Premier Doug Ford’s gamble of calling a snap winter election to ask for a “strong mandate” to deal with U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs has paid off — although maybe not as well as he had hoped.
Ontario voters have delivered Ford’s Progressive Conservatives a majority government for the third time in a row — the first time since 1959 that a party leader in Ontario has won three consecutive majorities — with PC incumbents re-elected in all four ridings in the greater Kawarthas region.
Within only 15 minutes of the polls closing at 9 p.m. on Thursday (Feburary 27), all major Canadian news networks were projecting another majority for the PCs.
As of 11:30 p.m. on Thursday, with over 99 per cent of the polls reporting, PC candidates were elected or leading in 81 ridings — two less than in 2022 and short of the larger majority of 90-plus seats Ford was reportedly hoping for.
With 26 seats, the NDP have retained official opposition status, although they won five fewer seats than they did in 2022 and now have two less than they did when the election was called.
The Liberals are projected to win 14 ridings, a gain of five seats from 2022, which gives them just enough seats to regain the official party status they lost in the previous two elections.
The Green Party won in two ridings, with leader Mike Schriener re-elected in his Guelph riding, and Aislinn Clancy easily defeating PC candidate Rob Elliott by 11,209 votes.
The province’s only independent MPP, Bobbi Ann Brady in Haldimand-Norfolk, easily retained the seat she first won in 2022.
Of the 11.1 million registered voters in Ontario, around 4.8 million voted on Thursday — a turnout of 45 per cent, which is the same as the 2022 election. By comparison, voter turnout in the 2018 election where Ford earned his first majority government was 57 per cent.
In the greater Kawarthas region, PC incumbent Laurie Scott easily held on to Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock, with almost 52 per cent of the vote and 14,692 votes more than Liberal Alison Bennie.
In Northumberland-Peterborough South, PC incumbent David Piccini also easily held on to his seat, garnering over 52 per cent of the vote and a margin of 10,498 votes over Liberal Dorothy Noronha.
In Hastings-Lennox and Addington, PC incumbent Ric Bresee captured over 48 per cent of the vote, with 7,782 more votes than the Liberal’s Lynn Rigby.
As was also the case in 2022, the race was tighter in Peterborough-Kawartha, where PC incumbent Dave Smith took almost 41 per cent of the vote, with a margin of 2,248 votes over Liberal Adam Hopkins. Over 53 per cent of the vote was split between Hopkins (36 per cent) and the NDP’s Jen Deck (17 per cent).
In all four ridings with one exception, candidates for the Green Party finished in fourth place. In Hastings-Lennox and Addington, Ontario Party leader Derek Sloan finished fourth, ahead of the Green Party, earning almost six per cent of the vote.
Voter turnout in the greater Kawarthas was higher than the provincial average, with 52.95 per cent in Peterborough-Kawartha (compared to 51.27 per cent in 2022), 48.91 per cent in Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock (compared to 47.63 per cent in 2018), 52.86 per cent in Northumberland-Peterborough South (compared to 51.3 per cent in 2018), and 49.27 per cent in Hastings-Lennox and Addington (compared to 46.98 per cent in 2018).
Here are the final unofficial election results for the greater Kawarthas region as reported by Elections Ontario as of 11:30 p.m. on February 27.
Peterborough-Kawartha
100 of 100 polls reporting
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Dave Smith – PC Party of Ontario (incumbent) | 40.49% 22,383 votes |
|
| Adam Hopkins – Ontario Liberal Party | 36.42% 20,135 votes |
|
| Jen Deck – Ontario NDP/NPD | 17.15% 9,480 votes |
|
| Lucas Graham – Green Party of Ontario | 3.14% 1,739 votes |
|
| Andrew Roudny – New Blue Party | 1.56% 865 votes |
|
| Brian Martindale – Ontario Party | 1.25% 684 votes |
Haliburton-Kawartha Lakes-Brock
98 of 98 polls reporting
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Laurie Scott – PC Party of Ontario (incumbent) | 51.95% 26,506 votes |
|
| Alison Bennie – Ontario Liberal Party | 22.91% 11,688 votes |
|
| Barbara Doyle – Ontario NDP/NPD | 13.70% 6,993 votes |
|
| Tom Regina – Green Party of Ontario | 5.10% 2,602 votes |
|
| Jacquie Barker – New Blue Party | 2.40% 1,223 votes |
|
| Brian Kerr – Ontario Party | 1.81% 926 votes |
|
| Gene Balfour – Independent | 0.83% 426 votes |
|
| Zachary Tisdale – Libertarian | 0.75% 385 votes |
|
| Bill Denby – Freedom Party of Ontario | 0.54% 278 votes |
Northumberland-Peterborough South
105 of 105 polls reporting
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| David Piccini – PC Party of Ontario (incumbent) | 52.10% 28,489 votes |
|
| Dorothy Noronha – Ontario Liberal Party | 32.38% 17,705 votes |
|
| Bruce LePage – Ontario NDP/NPD | 9.32% 5,097 votes |
|
| Maxwell Groves – Green Party of Ontario | 3.66% 1,999 votes |
|
| Joshua Chalhoub – New Blue Party | 1.31% 717 votes |
|
| Florian Bors – Ontario Party | 1.23% 673 votes |
Hastings-Lennox and Addington
86 of 86 polls reporting
| Candidate | Votes | |
|---|---|---|
| Ric Bresee – PC Party of Ontario (incumbent) | 48.42% 20,029 votes |
|
| Lynn Rigby – Ontario Liberal Party | 29.61% 12,247 votes |
|
| Jessica Zielke – Ontario NDP/NPD | 11.44% 4,734 votes |
|
| Derek Sloan – Ontario Party (leader) | 5.73% 2,372 votes |
|
| Mike Holbrook – Green Party of Ontario | 3.23% 1,338 votes |
|
| Glenn Tyrrell – New Blue Party | 1.56% 645 votes |
