Toronto - St. Paul residents will head to the polls today, Monday, to vote for a new Member of Parliament to represent them, with observers watching to see if the liberals can hold on to the seat they occupied in the last ten elections.

The by-election comes after former liberal MP Carolyn Bennett resigned, having held the seat for more than 25 years and having recently been appointed ambassador to Denmark.

With conservatives maintaining a double-digit lead over liberals in national polls, political watchers will closely monitor today's race, which appears to be tougher than expected for the liberal stronghold.

Liberal candidate Leslie Church has spent most of her career as a political staffer, including serving as chief of staff for several ministers, the most recent being Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland.

Her main rival, Conservative candidate Don Stewart, specializes in financial and marketing affairs.

Stewart previously worked at the public affairs firm owned by Jenni Byrne, a long-time conservative campaign director and currently an unofficial senior advisor to party leader Pierre Poilievre.