WELLINGTON-HALTON HILLS – The blue wave that swept across Ontario Thursday night made its way through Wellington-Halton Hills as well, as Progressive Conservative (PC) candidate Joseph Racinsky was elected with a large majority.
The riding has been the longtime stronghold of MPP Ted Arnott, who announced last fall he would not run again.
That opened the door for a race in the riding and hope among candidates of other parties that they could turn the tide. But it was not to be.
Unofficial results from Elections Ontario have Racinsky winning 24,429 votes (45.26 per cent of votes cast), while Liberal candidate Alex Hilson garnered 14,874 (27.56%), Green Party candidate Bronwynne Wilton had 8,462 (15.68%) and NDP candidate Simone Kent won 4,154 (7.7%).
Stephen Kitras ran for the New Blue Party and won 1,452 votes (2.69%), Ontario Party candidate Jason Medland had 399 (0.74%) and independent candidate Ron Patava got 199 (0.37%).
About 15 minutes after the polls closed at 9pm on Feb. 27, the PCs were way ahead and various media outlets called the election for the PCs about 15 minutes after that.
Provincially the PCs won 80 seats and the NDP is the official opposition with 27 seats, while the Liberals just barely hung on to party status with 14 seats and the Green Party retained its two seats.
Racinsky did not attend any debates in the riding leading up to the election, nor did he return numerous calls and emails from the Advertiser on election night and the following day.
Uncertainty for Liberals
Liberal Party Leader Bonnie Crombie did not win her seat so there remains some uncertainty for the party.
“That was disappointing,” Hilson said in an interview on Friday morning.
“But just like anything else, we’ll regroup and figure it out. I hope she’ll stay on as leader.”
Hilson, currently a councillor in Halton Hills, said he was proud of his campaign, adding, “it was the best result for a Liberal in this riding.
“I wish Joseph all the best and we will continue to work together.”
Wilton was disappointed with the results, but proud of her campaign as well.
“We were up against impenetrable forces,” she said with a wry laugh, a day after the dust had settled.
“It will be interesting to see the poll breakdowns. I felt I had good momentum in Wellington County but maybe not in Halton Hills.”
Unofficial election results in the Wellington-Halton Hills riding.
‘Unnecessary’ election
In an emailed statement, Kent also wished Racinsky well and expressed “heartfelt gratitude” to her supporters and to those who engaged in conversation at the door and at campaign events.
“The election is over, but our work isn’t done. We will need to hold them (the PCs) accountable on their promises they’ve made to the people of Wellington-Halton Hills,” Kent stated.
“We will need to build a community where collective action becomes our greatest strength, uplift the voices that challenge the system and become involved with all forms of political action.”
Hilson called the election “a short, unnecessary, uncalled-for winter election” that may have posed problems for voters to get to campaign events and even to polling stations.
Elections Ontario reports voter turnout provincially was 45.4% and only slightly better in Wellington-Halton Hills at 51%.
