Bored on Bay Street. With Bryan

Six Aurora's pizzas.

Nobody to eat them.

When you win a political campaign, you get a gazillion wannabe friends.

When you lose, you find yourself with just a handful of actual friends.

And nobody to eat your pizza.

As Sault MP Bryan Hayes lost his re-election bid last night, his war room at 389 Bay Street was pretty much the loneliest and most boring place in all of Algoma.

Except for a gaggle of campaign organizers and media representatives, the place was empty when the local polls closed at 9:30 p.m.

It pretty much remained that way for the remainder of the evening, as it became apparent that Hayes, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and the Conservative Party of Canada had suffered a devastating loss.

Just minutes after the polls closed in the Sault, with voters in British Columbia still casting their ballots, news outlets declared a national Liberal victory.

For Canadian Tories, it was over.

Their decade of power had ended.

Sheehan on top all night

At 389 Bay, the six pizzas arrived from Aurora's Second Line around 9:50 p.m.

They were spread out temptingly on a side table.

But Hayes supporters were staying away in droves from campaign headquarters.

The handful of party workers there had seemingly lost their appetites.

Results from the first local poll were reported at 9:56 p.m.

They showed Liberal Terry Sheehan with almost twice as many votes as Hayes.

Sheehan stayed on top all night.

He ended up with 19,640 votes (44.8 percent).

Hayes collected 13,615 votes (31.1 percent).

New Democrat Skip Morrison finished third with 9,543 (21.8 percent).

Nine hundred and 34 electors (2.1 percent) voted for the Green Party's Kara Flannigan.

Marxist-Leninist Mike Taffarel managed 83 votes (0.2 percent).

Gracious in defeat

At 10:02 p.m., Local 2's Connor Dunster (shown above) was the first to tuck into the pizza.

Connor's appetite is voracious and unquenchable.

He always has room for good Sault pizza.

Almost half an hour later, the television networks were reporting that Justin Trudeau's Liberals had picked up enough ridings to command a Liberal majority government.

Five minutes after that, Bryan Hayes arrived at campaign headquarters.

With about 20 people now gathered in the room, Hayes delivered a gracious speech conceding defeat to his former City Council colleague and thanking his supporters.

'I've worked my ass off for this city'

"I want to wish the very best for Terry Sheehan," Hayes said. "One time I said, in my life I'd like everybody to have the opportunity to be a member of Parliament. And now Terry Sheehan gets that opportunity....I hope he serves us well."

"I don't take this personally at all," Hayes said. "This has been a heck of a ride. I am one of 4,200 members of Parliament in the history of Canada. I have had the honour for the past 4-1/2 years to serve Sault Ste. Marie. I have served them well. I have served them with dignity. I have served them with honour. I have earned the respect of my colleagues....I'm very proud of what I've done for Sault Ste. Marie. Very proud of what I've done for Canada."

The former MP said yesterday was a very long one for him.

"They say public speaking is one of the most difficult things that a person can do. I would suggest that sitting waiting for results, knowing how hard my team worked. Today was a tough day."

'I love you. This has been a great ride'

Hayes told his supporters not to worry about him.

"This is a door closed. But there's another door open and I'm very comfortable with what's happened....I've worked my ass off for this city. I don't take this personally, there's a Liberal wave for whatever reason. We'll take it as it is. From the bottom of my heart, everybody, thank you. I love you. This has been a great ride. I don't think we're done yet."

Hayes spent eight years on Sault Ste. Marie City Council and four and a half years in federal politics.

Is he done with politics now or will he somehow bounce back into public life?

"Time will tell," he says.

'I have to find another job. I'm unemployed'

Hayes insists he was confident of victory as recently as last week and he has no idea what went wrong with his campaign.

"My life will go on. I have to find another job. I'm unemployed officially right now. I'll be looking for work. But for now, I'm going to take a couple of weeks....I'm gonna sit down. I'm gonna relax. Tomorrow I'm going to cut my grass."

"I'm comfortable with the love of my family and that's what's most important. I'm heading back to Ottawa to clean my apartment. I feel more for my staff than for myself. This is a door closed but it's another door open. Now my staff are without work. That's who I feel for more than for myself."

"I don't have great confidence in Justin Trudeau. I never have had. I think Canadians will see the light when all is said and done. I'm not bitter. This is a democracy. We'll give Justin a chance. We'll give the Liberals a chance and we'll go from there."

Local voter turnout highest so far this millennium

As for Terry Sheehan, however, Hayes didn't have a bad thing to say.

"He's got a good team behind him. Good people. He deserves this. He worked hard. I'm fine with this. I know this isn't a slap in my face. I know the people of Sault Ste. Marie appreciated my hard work. I'm just thrilled that Terry's getting this opportunty and life goes on."

Voter turnout in Sault Ste. Marie (not including voters who registered yesterday) was 68.94 percent - the highest so far in this millenium.

That compares to 64.19 percent in 2011, 59.42 percent in 2008, 67.75 in 2006, 63.36 in 2004 and 63.8 in 2000.

(PHOTOS: ABOVE - Local 2's Connor Dunster was the first to tuck into the Aurora's Second Line pizza at Bryan Hayes' campaign headquarters on Monday night. BELOW - Bryan Hayes thanks his campaign workers, then walks down Queen Street to congratulate Terry Sheehan. David Helwig/SooToday).