In the end, there was little doubt that Sam Oosterhoff would be headed back to Queen’s Park after winning his fourth election since he entered politics for the first time nine years ago.
Oosterhoff cruised to victory Thursday, winning the Niagara West electoral district by a margin of 11,225 votes, easily beating his closest competitor– Liberal Shauna Boyle. NDP candidate David Augustyn ran a distant third. Green Party candidate Mark Harrison came in fourth.
With 100 percent of polls reporting, the unofficial results are:
Oosterhoff, 22,316 votes (50.23%)
Boyle,11,091 votes (24.96%)
Augustyn, 7312 votes (16.46%)
Harrison, 2009 votes (4.52%)
Prior to the polls closing, Oosterhoff said felt good about how things had gone over the course of the four week campaign.
During the campaign, residents had a lot to say about what they are concerned about, as he went door to door, including “tariffs, jobs, keeping costs down and continue investing in health care with infrastructure like the two new hospitals Niagara is getting,” he said.
Prior to the polls closing Thursday, Augustyn, the NDP candidate said the heavy presence of NDP leader Marit Stiles in Niagara should go a long way to boosting the party’s already high profile, hoping that will help him in Niagara West, where Stiles has promised to build a new GO Station in Grimsby and “deliver all-day, two-way GO Rail service to Niagara Falls.”
“They plan to vote NDP because we are the only party committed to keeping the Welland Hospital ER and the Port UCC open and to rebuilding the Welland Hospital,” Augustyn said.
Liberal candidate Shauna Boyle, meanwhile, said she was feeling “not super great” on the final day of campaigning.
“A lot of people didn't receive voter cards, are having a hard time finding their voting locations, and having a hard time finding some of the locations physically,” she said.
To her, this is a huge problem.
“When they do show up to vote, they cannot be found on the list,” Boyle said. “My 91-year-old grandmother who has lived in the same place for 73 years could not be found on the list.”
As for people she has spoken with during the campaign, they are not happy an election was even called.
“People are angry no matter what party they support about this snap election. Health care, affordability, housing are the major issues with a lot of people,” she said.
With files by Dave Burket.