Monte McNaughton handily won another term at Queen’s Park, taking Lambton-Kent–Middlesex with almost 60 per cent of the vote.
“It’s a great night for Ontario and for the people right here in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex,” McNaughton said while speaking to supporters at the Legion hall in Mt. Brydges.
“You ran a hell of the campaign,” he said told his election team.
He was joined on the stage by his wife Kate and their daughter Annie.
“She campaigned really hard,” McNaughton said about his daughter.
“Workers know we have their back,” McNaughton, who was labor minister when the election was called, said about support he helped his party receive from eight construction unions.
“I will always fight for those who put in an honest shift and shower at the end of day. We’re all in to build a strong Ontario. Our best days are truly ahead of us.”
McNaughton said the turning point for the support the party received from unions came in June 2019, when the premier asked him to become labor minister.
He said he met with more than 100 labor leaders, “touring every corner of this province, visiting workers on job sites, workplaces and going to training centers to see the valuable role that they play in training the next generation of skilled trade workers.”
McNaughton said the party then established a relationship with labor leaders based on trust and finding common ground.
“And, as they say, the rest if history,” he said.
He said he ran again to “build the future of this province” and to “ensure we’re getting infrastructure dollars here in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex.”
McNaughton said one of his biggest accomplishments so far is delivering a new hospital for Wallaceburg.
“I remember being at protests 15 years ago with thousands of people from the community” worried its hospital might close, he said. “Today, they’re getting a brand new hospital.”
When the results of the first poll were posted, McNaughton was in the lead with more than 52 per cent of the vote.
By the end of the evening, with 75 of 77 polls reporting, McNaughton had earned 23,905 votes. NDP candidate Vanessa Benoit was a distant second with nearly 19 per cent of the vote. Liberal Bruce Baker was third with about nine per cent.
McNaughton has held Lambton-Kent-Middlesex since 2011 when he defeated Liberal Maria Van Bommel. She won the riding from the Progressive Conservatives in 1999.
-With files from Tyler Kula
THE RESULTS
(75 of 77 polls reporting)
Bruce Baker, Liberal: 3,816
David Barnwell, New Blue: 2,498
Vanessa Benoit, NDP: 7,439
Wanda Dickey, Green: 1,598
Dean Eve, None of the Above: 284
Monte McNaughton, PC*: 23,905
Aaron Istvan Vegh, Ontario Party: 684
*MPP in last legislature