TORONTO - Opposition hopes that anger over the harmonized sales tax would see voters punish the Ontario government failed to materialize Thursday as former Winnipeg mayor Glen Murray held on to a downtown Toronto riding for the Liberals.

The victory came despite a solid showing from New Democrat candidate Cathy Crowe, a street nurse who had hoped to end nearly a decade of Liberal dominance in Toronto Centre in the contest to replace former deputy premier George Smitherman.

"What a wonderful way to begin Ontario politics in 2010," Premier Dalton McGuinty said shortly after Murray's win.

With 282 of 292 polls reporting in Toronto Centre, the Liberals had 46.6 per cent of the popular vote while the NDP had 33.3 per cent.

Progressive Conservative candidate Pam Taylor, who came a distant second to Smitherman in the 2007 election, had 15.6 per cent of the vote. Green Party candidate Stefan Premdas had 3.1 per cent.

The Tories had expected the byelection to be an uphill battle, but were hoping for an upset victory.

Murray, 52, is talked about as a potential cabinet minister, and inherited the well organized riding association from Smitherman, now a candidate for mayor of Toronto.

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

"Premier, we promised you a hat trick."

Thursday's win makes the Liberals three-for-three in byelections in the past year, taking a Lindsay-area riding away from the Progressive Conservatives last March -- defeating then-leader John Tory in the process -- and holding on to Toronto St. Paul's in the fall.

The NDP dramatically improved their showing in the riding compared to 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."

The opposition candidates accused the Liberals of trying to buy votes by coming up with an estimated $15 million for the threatened Grace Hospital just hours before the polls opened.

Opposition parties expect the HST will spill over into the next two byelections, which are slated for March 4 in the eastern Ontario ridings of Ottawa-West-Nepean and Leeds-Grenville.

The opposition had called Murray, a one-time New Democrat, a "parachute" candidate who didn't deserve the riding, but the Liberals maintained he was a strong candidate who deeply cared about Toronto.

The riding is home to almost 93,000 eligible voters and a diverse community that includes Toronto's gay village, poverty-stricken Regent Park, new immigrants in St. James Town, wealthy families in Rosedale and upwardly mobile professionals who have taken up residence in recently sprouted condominiums.

Bob Rae, a Liberal convert who served as Ontario's NDP premier, holds the riding federally.

The plan to merge the provincial sales tax with the GST didn't prevent a win in the riding of St. Paul's either. McGuinty has said he's confident people will understand that it's the right move in the end.

Experts agree with the premier, saying scandals such as eHealth or even anger over Smitherman leaving his post to run for mayor were more likely to figure in voters' minds than the HST.

Smitherman won re-election in the 2007 general election with 48 per cent of the vote, with Taylor taking 20 per cent. The Greens captured almost 10 per cent of the votes cast.