Liberal candidate Dr. Eric Hoskins is the co-founder of the charity War Child. (Facebook)

Liberal Eric Hoskins was elected to the Ontario legislature Thursday, easily winning a byelection in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's, where opposition candidates spent much of their campaigns berating province's proposed harmonized sales tax.

Hoskins, in a victory speech at a sports bar near Yonge Street and St. Clair Avenue, thanked members of the Liberal caucus for their advice in the lead-up to the vote.

"I know I've had the benefit of learning from the best and I am joining a team that is truly committed to making a positive difference to the lives of Ontarians," he said.

"And lastly I'd like to acknowledge the other candidates in this byelection tonight for having the courage to put their names on the ballot and for debating important public policy issues. This is the essence of our democracy."

With 227 of 238 polls reporting at 11:50 p.m., an unofficial tally posted by Elections Ontario showed Hoskins had 47.8 per cent of the vote. Progressive Conservative Sue-Ann Levy took 28.8 per cent of the vote, with the New Democratic Party's Julian Heller garnering 16.3 per cent of ballots.

Chris Chopik of the Green Party accounted for 5.3 per cent.

During the campaign, both Heller and Levy were vocal in their opposition to the Liberals' move to blend the federal GST and the provincial sales tax.

Both were hoping to capitalize on voter anger about the higher costs the scheme will trigger on hundreds of everyday items from fast food to funerals.

Toronto Sun columnist Sue-Ann Levy said during the campaign she was 'really excited about the opportunity to fight the harmonized sales tax.' (Facebook)

But hopes for a protest vote that would dislodge the 10-year Liberal hold on the riding fizzled Thursday, as residents opted instead to maintain the status quo by electing Hoskins, a physician and co-founder of the charity War Child.

The riding has a population of 112,449, including 82,500 eligible voters.

'Feet to the fire'

Levy congratulated Hoskins in her concession speech, but laced her comments with a warning.

"Congratulations to Eric Hoskins. He's been given a very honourable position by the voters in St. Paul's," said Levy, a columnist for the Toronto Sun.

"I just talked to him about an hour ago and I told him I'll be watching him as a journalist ... I told him I would by holding his feet to the fire."

Levy's campaign manager, Patrick Harris, said the odds were stacked against the Tories, particularly as the summer campaign led to a low voter turnout.

"This riding's been a Liberal stronghold for the last decade, and it's been an uphill climb from day one, but we're happy with our result," said Harris, adding the result was an improvement on the last election in 2007.

In that vote, Liberal Michael Bryant bested his closest opponent, Conservative candidate Lillyann Goldstein, by 9,370 votes.

The St. Paul's seat became vacant earlier this year when Bryant stepped down to take the job as CEO of Invest Toronto.

Bryant resigned from that post after criminal charges were laid against him stemming from a fatal road incident involving a cyclist earlier this month.

Bryant took the riding in 1999 after defeating Tory cabinet minister Isabel Bassett by 4,782 votes.

Six other candidates ran in Thursday's byelection:

• Danish Ahmed of the Party for People with Special Needs.
• Independent Marius Frederick.
• John Kittredge of the Ontario Libertarian Party.
• Paul McKeever, Freedom Party of Ontario.
• Raj Rama, Independent.
• John Turmel, Independent, who's been recognized as the world record-holder for most election runs.

With files from The Canadian Press