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Police believe two Liberal operatives, including one of Premier Kathleen Wynnes top aides, broke the law by offering a former candidate a government job in exchange for dropping out of the Sudbury by-election race.

The revelation, in a court document obtained by The Globe and Mail on election day, capped a dramatic campaign that included everything from a high-profile party defection to tape-recorded conversations that are now at the centre of a criminal probe.

Despite the scandal, the Liberals pulled off a win. Liberal Glenn Thibeault, who defected from the federal New Democrats to run for the provincial Liberals, beat out NDP candidate Suzanne Shawbonquit by over 1,000 votes.

Shortly before 11 p.m., Ms. Wynne and Mr. Thibeault took the stage in a hotel atrium to the strains of AC/DC's Thunderstruck.

"There was a lot of negativity in this campaign, and you saw through that," she told hundreds of cheering Liberal faithful. "With your optimism, you saw the positivity. You ran a terrific campaign."

But it was Independent candidate Andrew Olivier who placed a distant third who was at the heart of the by-election drama, which will hang over the party even after the ballots are counted.

The Ontario Provincial Police investigation turns on conversations Mr. Olivier had last December with Patricia Sorbara, Ms. Wynnes deputy chief of staff, and Liberal fundraiser Gerry Lougheed.

At the time, Mr. Olivier was seeking the Liberal nomination. But Ms. Wynne instead wanted then-federal MPP Mr. Thibeault to get the nomination unopposed. Both Ms. Sorbara and Mr. Lougheed tried to persuade Mr. Olivier to drop out.

Mr. Olivier, who is quadriplegic and records conversations in lieu of taking notes, made tapes of his discussions. In those recordings, Ms. Sorbara and Mr. Lougheed dangled possible job options for Mr. Olivier. Ms. Sorbara cited posts as a constituency assistant, or an appointment to a government commission studying accessibility issues.

In an information to obtain, a police document sworn before a judge to get a production order for originals of Mr. Oliviers tapes, police allege Ms. Sorbara and Mr. Lougheed broke federal corruption laws by negotiating appointments, citing section 125 of the Criminal Code.

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Liberals win Sudbury by-election despite allegation party broke the law with job offer