Liberal incumbent for Richmond East-Steveston has held onto his seat, beating his Conservative rival Zach Segal by more than one thousand votes.
With margins throughout the night fluctuating, Bains didn't come out to greet and thank his supporters until well after 11 p.m.
With one outstanding poll, Bains ended election night with 48.4 per cent of the vote (24,562 votes). Segal had 46.3 per cent of the vote (23,501 votes).
NDP candidate Keefer Pelech's vote share, at 4.3 per cent (2,167), reflected the party's fortunes across the country - even party leader Jagmeet Singh lost his seat.
The fourth Richmond East-Steveston candidate, Steven Ji, running for the Green Party of Canada, ended the night with one per cent of the vote (482).
Bains will join what appears to be a minority Liberal government, although at midnight on the West Coast, about 10 ridings were still too close to call. They were leading in 168 late Monday night and will need to secure four more for a majority.
Bains appears to be the sole Liberal going back to Ottawa from Richmond, however, as current city Coun. Chak Au, running for the Conservatives, beat incumbent Liberal Wilson Miao.
Bains thanked his supporters, campaign team and his family for getting him re-elected, but he also thanked voters for casting a ballot for him to "keep Canada strong."
He said it was a "huge honour" to serve in the "city that raised me."
"And to be able to do it one more time, and the fact that the people put their trust and support in me to do this job, and... really look at the things I've worked on for the last four years, and given me another chance to keep building on that, I'm truly, truly grateful," Bains told his supporters.
Voter turnout tops 60 per cent in Steveston
With one poll still outstanding, so far voter turnout in Richmond East-Steveston appears to be almost 61 per cent.
According to Elections Canada, preliminary numbers show 19,070 voters cast a ballot in advance polls in Richmond East-Steveston over the Easter long weekend. This was almost 23 per cent of registered voters.
Across Canada, 7.3 million people voted in advance polls.
In Richmond East-Steveston, there are 83,489 registered voters. The total population is 116,141.
In the 2021 election, both Richmond ridings flipped from blue to red. Bains beat Conservative incumbent Kenny Chiu in Steveston-Richmond East and Wilson Miao beat Alice Wong in Richmond Centre.
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