Voters in Toronto's Parkdale-High Park elected the NDP's Cheri DiNovo as their new MPP in an Ontario provincial byelection on Thursday.

DiNovo beat out Liberal candidate Sylvia Watson, garnering 41 per cent of the vote to Watson's 33. David Hutcheon of the Progressive Conservatives came in third with 17.3 per cent of the vote, while Green Party candidate Frank De Jong captured 6.2 per cent.

With the provincial election just over a year away, political pundits say the NDP's victory is a blow to the Liberals, who already lost a popular cabinet minister and wanted to hold onto a seat previously considered solidly Liberal.

Former Education Minister Gerard Kennedy triggered the byelection in March when he resigned his position as MPP in the west Toronto riding to run for the federal Liberal leadership.

In the 2003 provincial election, Kennedy won the seat with almost 58 per cent of the vote, while the Progressive Conservative and NDP candidates trailed with about 16 per cent each.

But on Thursday, DiNovo more than doubled the NDP's previous showing.

She was greeted by cheering supporters after a campaign that turned nasty in its final days with accusations Watson was running a smear campaign against DiNovo.

Education Minister Sandra Pupatello, who accused DiNovo of comparing media coverage of Karla Homolka's release from prison to the persecution of Jesus Christ, said she wasn't surprised by the result.

"Byelections historically are always an anti-vote ... it's always easier to get an anti-vote out," Pupatello said.

Pupatello didn't apologize for the allegations about DiNovo, but said she would have liked to have seen a daily concentration on health care and education in the campaign.

While DiNovo's victory is a coup for the NDP, the result won't disrupt the balance of power at Queen's Park, where the Liberals retain a solid majority. The Liberals entered the byelection with 70 seats in the legislature, while the Conservatives had 24 and the NDP eight.

Parkdale-High Park marks the fourth byelection held this year in Ontario. On March 30, the Conservatives won seats in Nepean-Carleton and Whitby-Ajax, and the NDP captured the Toronto-Danforth riding.

With files from the Canadian Press