Joe Comartin

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**Joseph Comartin**

Ridings	Windsor—St. Clair (2000-2004) Windsor—Tecumseh (2004-present)
Political party:	New Democratic Party
First elected:	2000 election
Profession(s):	Lawyer, managing director

Joseph "Joe" Comartin (born December 26, 1947 in Stoney Point, Ontario) is a Canadian lawyer and politician. Comartin joined the New Democratic Party in 1969.

A civil litigation lawyer based in Windsor, Ontario, Comartin enjoyed strong support from local union members when he ran for a seat in the House of Commons, but narrowly lost in the 1997 general election and in a 1999 by-election.

He won the seat in the 2000 election, becoming the first federal NDP candidate to win a seat in Ontario in ten years (Mike Breaugh of Oshawa had been the last to win in a 1990 by-election ). He was re-elected in the 2004 election and the 2006 election.

Comartin stood as a candidate in the leadership of the NDP in 2003, and finished fourth.

He is currently the party's critic for Justice and Public Security. Comartin has been an outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq.

Following his vote in favor of Same-sex marriage in Canada in June 2005, Comartin was disciplined by Ronald Fabbro, the Roman Catholic bishop of London, Ontario, barring him from acting as a Catholic marriage counsellor until he has a "change of mind" on the use of the word marriage to describe same-sex unions.

[edit] Electoral Record

Canadian federal election, 1997
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Shaughnessy Cohen	16,496
	New Democratic Party	Joe Comartin	14,237
	Reform	Harold Downs	5,899
	Progressive Conservative	Bruck Easton	4,253
	Green	Timothy Dugdale	357
	Marxist-Leninist	Dale Woodyard	115

By-election: On Mrs. Cohen's death:

Party		Candidate	Votes
By-election on 12 April 1999
	Liberal	Rick Limoges	13,891
	New Democratic Party	Joe Comartin	13,800
	Progressive Conservative	Bruck Easton	2,074
	Reform	Scott Cowan	1,956
	Unknown	John Turmel	106

Canadian federal election, 2000
Party		Candidate	Votes
	New Democratic Party	Joe Comartin	17,001
	Liberal	Rick Limoges	16,600
	Canadian Alliance	Phillip Pettinato	5,639
	Progressive Conservative	Bruck Easton	1,906
	Green	Stephen Lockwood	390
	Marxist-Leninist	Dale Woodyard	95

Canadian federal election, 2004
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democrat	COMARTIN, Joe	20,037	41.85%
	Liberal	LIMOGES, Rick	16,219	33.88%
	Conservative	FUSCHI, Rick	9,827	20.53%
	Green	POWLES, Elizabeth	1,613	3.37%
	Marxist-Leninist	CHESNIK, Laura	182	0.38%

Canadian federal election, 2006
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	New Democrat	COMARTIN, Joe	22,646	44.6%
	Liberal	EASTON, Bruck	13,412	26.4%
	Conservative	FUSCHI, Rick	12,852	25.3%
	Green	PLUARD, Catherine	1,644	3.2%
	Marxist-Leninist	CHESNIK, Laura	193	0.4%

[edit] External links

Preceded by first member, riding created in 2003	Member of Parliament for Windsor—Tecumseh 2004-present	Succeeded by incumbent
Preceded by Rick Limoges	Member of Parliament for Windsor—St. Clair 2000-2004	Succeeded by riding abolished in 2003

Persondata
NAME	Comartin, Joe
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Canadian politician
DATE OF BIRTH	December 26, 1947
PLACE OF BIRTH	Stoney Point, Ontario, Canada
DATE OF DEATH	living
PLACE OF DEATH