Graydon Smith Re-elected in Parry Sound-Muskoka As Ford Wins 3rd Majority Gov’t

Within minutes of the polls closing, Doug Ford secured a third consecutive majority government at Queen’s Park.

“Together we have made history, together we have secured a strong historic third majority mandate,” Ford declared in his speech.

Leslie Frost was the last Ontario politician to win three majority governments, in elections from 1951 to 1959. Two other Conservatives who succeeded Frost — John Robarts and then Bill Davis — won three and four elections respectively but neither managed three majorities in a row.

The PC Party ended the night with 80 seats. Much of the election has revolved around tariffs threatened by U.S. president Donald Trump. In his victory speech at the Toronto Congress Centre, Ford said his win is a mandate to strengthen Ontario.

“As we stare down the threat of Donald Trump’s tariffs, I will continue to do just that. I will work with every level of government and every political stripe because fighting back against Donald Trump, standing up for Canada, it will take a full Team Ontario effort.”

“I will never stop working for you because we’re in a battle for the future of our province, for the future of our country,” Ford vowed. “I promise you this: I will wake up every day and I will fight like I’ve never fought before.”

With the PC’s almost guaranteed a win since the election was called, voters have been watching the race for second place. The NDP – led by Marit Stiles – will form the official opposition. While acknowledging that supporters “might be disappointed” with the Ontario election results, Stiles congratulated Ford on his victory and promised to hold his government to account on key issues like affordability and health care.

The Liberals led the NDP in popular vote — 30 per cent to 18 per cent. With 14 seats, the Liberals once again have official party status.

“People counted us out, they said the Ontario Liberal Party was dead, tonight you proved them wrong,” leader Bonnie Crombie said in her concession speech, adding, ““The Ontario Liberal Party is back to official party status — that’s a big milestone.”

However, Crombie lost her race in the Mississauga East-Cooksville riding – the city where she was mayor for a decade. Crombie announced that she is staying on as leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Ontario Green Party leader Mike Schreiner won his third term in Guelph and Kitchener Centre candidate Aislinn Clancy’s win keeps the party’s seats at 2. In his victory speech, Schreiner praised deputy leader Matt Richter although he didn’t win in Parry-Sound Muskoka. In a statement Schreiner said, “I want to congratulate Mr. Ford. Greens will do our job to hold your government accountable. Now is not the time to agonize, but to organize. In this election we fought for fairness and we will continue to do that, at Queens Park and in our communities.”

There are 11,065,813 registered electors in Ontario. The election saw a 45.40% voter turnout

Elections Ontario Unofficial Results:

Political Party	Number of Seats Won or Leading	Number of votes	Percentage of votes
PC Party of Ontario	80	2,158,452	42.97%
Ontario NDP/NPD	27	931,796	18.55%
Ontario Liberal Party	14	1,504,688	29.95%
Green Party of Ontario GPO	2	242,822	4.83%
Independent	1	54,278	1.08%

In Parry Sound-Muskoka, a tight race was expected between frontrunners Graydon Smith and Matt Richter. Several times as the ballots were counted, the two were separated by just a few hundred votes. In the end, the riding remains blue with incumbent Conservative Graydon Smith retaining his seat. Smith received nearly 47% of votes with the Green Party’s Matt Richter close behind with just under 42%. Liberal candidate David Innes finished third and the NDP’s Jim Ronholm was fourth. The riding has 84,534 voters with a voter turnout of 54.92%.