Doug Ford’s PCs cruise to second majority, winning all four ridings in greater Kawarthas region

Ontario voters have delivered Doug Ford’s PCs a convincing majority government for the second time in a row, with PC candidates winning all four ridings in the greater Kawarthas region.

An hour after the polls closed on Thursday (June 2), it was clear the Progressive Conservatives were well on their way to a decisive victory, with candidates elected or leading in more than 80 ridings. By the time all polls had reported, the PCs had won 83 seats, an increase of seven over their 2018 majority.

The New Democrats won 31 ridings, a loss of nine seats from their showing in 2018 but enough for them to remain the official opposition — the first time in Ontario history the NDP has been the official opposition twice in a row. However, the lack of any gains was enough to prompt leader Andrea Horwath to announce she is stepping down.

The Liberals suffered a disastrous night, winning only eight seats — one more compared to the 2018 election that was the worst result in the party’s history. For the second straight election, the Liberals did not win enough seats to earn official party status. As well, Liberal leader Steven Del Duca was defeated in his home riding of Vaughan-Woodbridge by Conservative Michael Tibollo, and later announced he is stepping down as leader.

The Green Party of Ontario has maintained its single seat in the legislature, with leader Mike Schreiner massively winning his seat in Guelph. The province’s only independent MPP was also elected on Thursday night: Bobbi Ann Brady in Haldimand-Norfolk, the former executive assistant of retired incumbent Toby Barrett of the Conservatives, who threw his support behind her instead of the PC candidate.

Of the 10.7 million registered voters in Ontario, around 4.6 million voted on Thursday — a turnout of just over 43 per cent, which is 14 per cent less than the 2018 election.

In the greater Kawarthas region, PC incumbent Laurie Scott easily held on to Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, earning 53 per cent of the vote and 17,979 more votes than the NDP’s Barbara Doyle. In Northumberland-Peterborough South, PC incumbent David Piccini also easily held on to his seat, garnering 51 per cent of the vote with a margin of 13,348 votes over Liberal Jeff Kawzenuk. In Hastings-Lennox and Addington, PC Ric Bresee captured 48 per cent of the vote, beating the NDP’s Eric Depoe by 10,871 votes.

The race was tighter in Peterborough-Kawartha, where PC incumbent Dave Smith took 39 per cent of the vote, with 4,167 more votes than Liberal Greg Dempsey. Almost 52 per cent of the vote was split between Dempsey (31 per cent) and the NDP’s Jen Deck (21 per cent).

With the exception of Northumberland-Peterborough South, candidates for the Ontario Party finished in fourth place ahead of the Greens. In Hastings-Lennox and Addington, Ontario Party leader Derek Sloan earned over seven per cent of the vote.

Voter turnout was 51.27 per cent in Peterborough-Kawartha (compared to 62.74 per cent in 2018), 47.63 per cent in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock (compared to 59.66 per cent in 2018), 51.38 per cent in Northumberland-Peterborough South (compared to 64.64 per cent in 2018), and 46.98 per cent in Hastings-Lennox and Addington (compared to 59.10 per cent in 2018).

Here are the final unofficial election results for the greater Kawarthas region as reported by Elections Ontario just after midnight on June 3.

Peterborough-Kawartha

93/93 polls reporting
Registered voters: 102,172
Voter turnout: 51.27%

Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock

98/98 polls reporting
Registered voters: 102,111
Voter turnout: 47.63%

Northumberland-Peterborough South

104/104 polls reporting
Registered voters: 100,111
Voter turnout: 51.38%

Hastings-Lennox and Addington

89/89 polls reporting
Registered voters: 81,150
Voter turnout: 46.98%

This story has been updated with the final election results.