Ontario's minister of education schooled the other candidates in Simcoe North on Thursday.
Jill Dunlop easily won her third term as MPP for the riding, helping Premier Doug Ford earn the Progressive Conservatives a third-straight majority government.
While all the ballots haven't been counted, Dunlop cruised to victory against a slate of relatively unknown candidates who had not previously run for public office in Simcoe North.
Dunlop said it is an "amazing victory tonight not only for myself but for the team. I had a lot of volunteers who were out there for me every day during the campaign, whether it was knocking on doors with me or putting up signs or being at the office.
"It really takes that whole team," she said. "I want to thank my team. I want to thank parents and family as well for supporting me.”
At 9:15 p.m., with results from more than half the polls already counted, Dunlop had 17,000 votes, more than 7,600 more than Liberal candidate Walter Alvarez-Bardales. Other candidates were NDP candidate Jordi Malcolm, Green party candidate Chris Carr, New Blue party candidate Dave Brunelle and Libertarian candidate William Joslin. Joslin is the lone candidate who had previously sought election in Simcoe North.
We have a reporter at Kelseys in Orillia, where Dunlop and her supporters are gathering this evening. We'll also have reaction from the other candidates. Check back throughout the evening for more election coverage.
Dunlop was first elected in 2018, when she garnered almost 49 per cent of the ballots cast in the riding.
Despite her being a rookie, Ford selected her to serve as the associate minister of children and women’s issues. She was later promoted to minister of colleges and universities.
In the 2022 election, Dunlop won 49.8 per cent of the vote in Simcoe North, easily cruising to re-election. In that June vote, she garnered 23,041 votes to finish atop the polls.
Elizabeth Van Houtte, of the NDP, finished second with 8,208 votes, collecting 17.74 per cent of the votes. Rookie Liberal candidate Aaron Cayden Hiltz finished third after earning 8,070 votes, or 17.44 per cent of the vote.
Krystal Brooks (Green) earned 4,071 votes, while Mark Douris of the New Blue party finished fifth (1,438 votes), Aaron McDonald of the Ontario Party was sixth (1,119) and Libertarian candidate Joslin was last with 328 votes.
In August 2024, Dunlop was promoted to a high-profile role in Ford's cabinet when she was named minister of education, replacing Todd Smith, who had resigned before officially taking over from Stephen Lecce.