This diversity makes Hamilton Mountain a swing riding where many elections are virtually two- or three-way ties. For instance, in 1988 less than a hundred votes separated the first and second-place finishers and in the 2004 election only three thousand votes separated the first and third-place finishers. In recent years, however, the riding has become one of the most solid NDP seats in Hamilton. From the 1990s to 2006, the races were between Liberals and NDP. Following the Liberal Party's collapse in the late 2000s, the Conservatives became the main competitors in the riding.