Third time was indeed a charm for Doug Downey.
The Progressive Conservative candidate easily won the Barrie-Springwater-Oro-Medonte (BSOM) riding in Thursday’s Ontario election, as leader Doug Ford’s PCs also outpaced their opposition to win a third straight majority government, gaining their desired new four-year mandate.
Downey, who also won the riding in 2018 and 2022, this time defeated Liberal candidate Dr. Rose Zacharias, Tracey Lapham of the New Democrats, the Green Party’s Tim Grant, Alex Della Ventura of the New Blue Party and Libertarian Erin Patterson.
Downey and his supporters claimed victory at Barrie Country Club soon after the polls closed at 9 p.m.
“I am so thrilled, oh my goodness,” he said. “We took nothing for granted, we worked hard.
“I think the message that we have and what we’re trying to do has resonated with people and that showed up at the (ballot) box,” Downey added. “I do wish voter turnout was higher, but I don’t think it would have changed the result."
Downey also credited his election team.
“We were very disciplined, we knocked on doors," he said. "I talked to a lot of people, thousands and thousands of people.”
Springwater resident Tony Guergis, a former Simcoe County warden and township mayor, said Downey’s win was well earned.
“He’s a significant provincial member of parliament who has demonstrated on numerous occasions that he has the respect of his colleagues,” Guergis said. “I have not seen too many harder-working politicians than him.”
Sylvia Mayhew, an Oro-Medonte Township resident, said Ford is the best person to deal with American tariffs, which was a main talking point for PC candidates during the campaign.
“I really have faith that Mr. Ford is going to address that,” she said. “He’s a very determined man and I think he’s very upfront, well spoken and plain.
“I feel that is going to do us well when it comes to speaking to (U.S. President Donald) Trump," Mayhew added.
Guergis said he agreed.
“I think that, at the moment, what is paramount in people’s minds is to have someone (as Ontario premier) who will stand up to a bully,” he said.
Barry Woods, retired political science professor at Georgian College’s Barrie campus, said this election campaign has been clouded by the federal Liberal leadership race, to both determine a new party leader and Canada’s next prime minister, and the tariff crisis brought on by Trump.
“I suspect the voter to be slightly overwhelmed by all that is going on,” Woods added. “One could make the argument that the litany of mistakes by the Ford government would provide the opposition with a host of issues to saddle the government with.”
He mentioned a list which includes the planned Ontario Place redevelopment, a vehicle tunnel beneath Toronto to ease traffic gridlock, limiting bike lanes on city streets and, most of all, health care — including the lack of family doctors.
“However, (it’s) similar to the U.S., (where) there seemed to be overwhelming evidence to support not voting for Donald Trump,” Woods said. “That’s the main issue with populist governments. They somehow manage to appeal to a wider section of the population and establish a strong voter base regardless.
“Giving everyone $200 doesn’t hurt,” Woods said of the Ontario government’s gift right before the provincial election was called. “Unlike the opposition, Ford has positioned himself as strong and decisive. The man also knows how to do a photo-opp. Populism seems to defy rational behaviour, particularly at voting time.”
With all 65 polls reporting in Barrie-Springwater-Oro-
In second place, Liberal candidate Zacharias had 14,325 votes, or 35.68 per cent. Downey's margin over Zacharias was 5,686 votes.
In third place, the NDP's Lapham had 2,677 votes, followed by the Greens' Grant with 1,622, New Blue's Della Ventura with 865 and Libertarian Patterson with 644.
Downey also praised his competition.
“I think the Liberals put a real effort into trying to have another star candidate (in Zacharias),” Downey said. “The (Liberal) leader, Bonnie Crombie, came here twice. They put a real effort into it.”
Downey, 55, has been Ontario’s attorney general since June 2019. He was first elected to the Ontario legislature in 2018, when the PCs earned the first of their three straight majority governments.
In 2022, it was a much closer race in BSOM, as Downey defeated former Barrie mayor Jeff Lehman, who was running for the Liberals, by less than 300 votes.
Elections Ontario says Downey received 16,631 votes or 42.1 per cent in 2022, while Lehman got 16,335 votes or 41.35 per cent. The difference was 296 votes.
Ontario’s official voter turnout numbers were not immediately available after the polls closed Thursday. Voter turnout was 44.06 per cent in 2022, 56.67 per cent in 2018, according to Elections Ontario.