Liberal Glen Murray celebrates his victory in the Toronto Centre byelection on Thursday with Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty. (Chris Young/Canadian Press)

Former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray has won a provincial byelection for the Liberals in the Toronto Centre riding.

With 99 per cent of polls reporting Thursday night, Murray had 47 per cent of the vote. Nurse Cathy Crowe, running under the NDP banner, had 33.1 per cent, and lawyer Pam Taylor of the Progressive Conservatives was in third place with 15.4 per cent.

Green candidate Stefan Premdas accounted for 3.1 per cent of the vote.

"What a great night to be a McGuinty Liberal," Murray said after his victory.

Premier Dalton McGuinty, in turn, said: "What a wonderful way to begin Ontario politics in 2010."

Crowe had hoped to steal the huge downtown riding from the Liberals, saying a lot of people were fed up with the government and angry about the harmonized sales tax.

Liberals accused of buying votes

The New Democrats dramatically improved their showing in the riding compared with the 2007 election, when they took 19 per cent of the vote.

"I did run this race to win, and we did win a lot," Crowe said. "Little did I know the Liberals would be forced to write a $15-million cheque."

Opposition candidates accused the Liberals of trying to buy votes hours before ballots were cast by coming up with an estimated $15 million to keep the threatened Grace Hospital on Church Street open.

The Tories expected the byelection to be an uphill battle but hoped for an upset victory.

Toronto Centre was held by former Ontario deputy premier George Smitherman for almost 10 years. He was re-elected in the 2007 provincial election by a margin of about 12,000 votes. Smitherman quit the Ontario legislature last month to run for mayor of Toronto.

Murray has served on Premier Dalton McGuinty's advisory panel on climate change and an advisory group on how to manage growth in a great swath of southern Ontario called the Greater Golden Horseshoe.

Before seeking to replace Smitherman, Murray had seriously considered making a run for Toronto mayor. His political experience in urban, municipal and environmental issues has fuelled speculation he'll be fast-tracked to the McGuinty cabinet.

Toronto Centre is home to almost 93,000 eligible voters and a diverse community that includes Toronto's gay village, low-income Regent Park, new immigrants in St. James Town, wealthy families in Rosedale and upwardly mobile professionals in Cabbagetown.

With files from The Canadian Press