Sheila Copps has lost her bid to represent the people of Hamilton East-Stoney Creek for the Liberal Party in the next federal election.

Tony Valeri, transport minister in Prime Minister Paul Martin's cabinet, prevailed late Saturday night in a tough fight.

"What an exciting day this has been!" Valeri told a crowd near midnight, while paying special thanks to his campaign team.

"I want to say to Sheila, you ran a spirited campaign and you are a worthy opponent ... Sheila's contribution to our community will not soon be forgotten. Thank you Sheila."

Copps was not given an opportunity to speak to the crowd.

Afterwards, she said she would take a week to consider her options. That might include running in the riding as an independent Liberal.

The NDP and Copps had a brief flirtation, but they wanted her to join them before the outcome of Saturday's vote, saying if she lost, she would be damaged goods.

There were 5,313 votes cast, with 20 spoiled ballots. No detailed breakdown was released, but CTV's Mike Duffy reported that Valeri won by 315 votes. That was sufficiently high to make it unlikely Copps would win any challenge, he said, although numerous people weren't allowed to vote on technical grounds, like misspelled names or other irregularities.

However, CTV's Peter Murphy told CTV Newsnet that hundreds of people were turned away, and that a margin of 315 votes might well be challenged by Copps: "I think Sheila Copps never gives up a fight until it's all over."

It was a long night, with the polls closing at 9:30 p.m. ET. Some in the riding had waited to vote for almost three hours. Seniors were given the courtesy of moving to the front of the line.

By 5:30 p.m., about 3,000 Liberal Party members had cast their ballot. The polls opened later than their scheduled time of 1 p.m.

Party president Mike Eizenga called it a "historic turnout."

Making their pitches

Before the vote started, the two contenders made their pitches Saturday in a winner-take-all battle for their riding's nomination.

"Today I see people here from every walk of life and every corner of the world. This room is a microcosm of our beloved party, the Liberal Party," said Sheila Copps, speaking at a packed suburban high school gymnasium.

She's a 51-year-old former deputy prime minister and heritage minister in the government of Jean Chretien, and represented the Hamilton East riding, a working class enclave, for 20 years.

Her mother Geraldine nominated her at the meeting. Copps' father Vic was once mayor of Hamilton.

"For the first time in a long time, I think this city is well positioned to achieve its objectives through collaboration. It's the answer to our prosperous future," answered Tony Valeri, 46, who also grew up in the city as the son of a steelworker.

He had represented the adjoining riding of Stoney Creek since 1993. When Paul Martin  became prime minister, he made Valeri his transport minister and left Copps, who had challenged him for the leadership, on the back benches.

Riding redistribution eliminated Valeri's old riding, with a large chunk of it being appended onto Copps' riding.

Copps wouldn't step aside, and Valeri wouldn't run in Niagara West-Glanbrook, the riding in which he actually lives, thus leading to today's showdown.

There were an estimated 11,000 people eligible to vote in the contest. However, Valeri's camp claims to have signed up 7,000 members while Copps claims to have inked about 6,600.

Despite the acrimony and high stakes, CTV's Peter Murphy said the whole proceeding was quite orderly -- although some shouting matches did occur as things dragged on.

Over the course of the nomination fight, numerous business and labour leaders endorsed Valeri -- including Hamilton's mayor.

They saw it to the city's advantage to have a cabinet minister with Martin's ear representing them.

"It's a difficult thing to offer my candidacy against that of a distinguished colleague," Valeri told the crowd. But he added, "It's not about our past, it's about our future."

Copps made the following commitment at the end of her speech: "Tony, whatever happens in this fight, we're all believing in the building of our great party and we'll do it together."

Valeri said he wouldn't seek another riding's nomination if he lost Saturday.

Murphy said Copps was very emotional when she arrived at her campaign room this morning.

"It's just been an incredible journey, a fantastic journey, and I want to just thank each and every one of you," she told supporters. She broke into tears at points.

Meanwhile, some Valeri supporters with close ties to Martin came down from Ottawa to scrutinize the identification of every party member voting for Copps.