Couple who founded New Blue Party says Ontario election losses won't stop them
Hala Ghonaim, Kate Bueckert | CBC News | Posted: June 4, 2022 10:45 AM | Last Updated: June 4, 2022
Party got over 125,000 votes and party president says they felt 'very positive' energy
Belinda and Jim Karahalios would have liked a different outcome on Thursday night.
But the political couple from Cambridge, Ont., and the driving force behind the newly created conservative New Blue Party say they're far from disappointed with the results of the Ontario election despite failing to win a seat.
"I feel quite energized, actually," Belinda Karahalios told CBC News on Thursday night at a campaign event after the polls closed.
"We ran a really strong campaign. And the energy — I don't know if you can feel it in the room — is very high, very positive. We had tons of volunteers, a lot of support at the door. And while the result was not what we wanted, it was still an amazing turnout."
Belinda Karahalios, who was the incumbent in Cambridge and serves as the New Blue party president, had hoped to hold onto her seat, but ended up fourth in the riding. Instead, the seat was won by Brian Riddell of the Progressive Conservatives.
New Blue Leader Jim Karahalios ran in the nearby riding of Kitchener-Conestoga. He tied for fourth in that race. PC incumbent Mike Harris Jr. retained the seat.
Despite the results, Jim said he was "feeling great" Thursday night.
"We made history today," he said. "Today is Step 1 of the foundation of the future of the New Blue Party of Ontario."
Impressive results, but 'not totally surprising'
On Friday, Elections Ontario reported the party received more than 127,000 votes this election, or 2.72 per cent of the vote. There were still a handful of polls being counted, so those numbers could change.
It put New Blue in fifth place for total number of votes received. The first-place party, the Progressive Conservatives, had more than 1.89 million votes.
Andrea Perrella, associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University and a director of the Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy, said the number of votes the New Blue Party amassed is impressive.
"It's not totally surprising because the New Blue Party is not, excuse the pun here, totally out of the blue," he said.
The party was formed by one MPP who already had a seat in Queen's Park — Belinda Karahalios had been elected as a Progressive Conservative in 2018. In 2021, she was removed from caucus because she voted against a government motion.
"If you already are an insider and you start a new party, there's a good chance that you will draw a lot more voters than if you're an entirely new party that no one has ever heard about. So it is impressive that they got that much, but it's also not terribly surprising," Perrella said.
Now, he said, the question is: What happens next time?
"Is this really a new party or is it just disenchanted Progressive Conservatives who are forming their own party out of spite?"
Supporters look to next election
Dante Ognibene, who attended the post-election New Blue celebration, said this party's values aligned with him more than any other.
"We've always known that it's going to be difficult," he said. "We need to focus on getting the message out there."
He blamed the media for not being "very kind" to the party.
"They want to silence us and we believe it's not right. We want to defund the establishment media," he said. "So our goal now is about awareness of the party, and letting everybody know what the party stands on and of its values and its principles."
Chiyuki Williams said she voted New Blue because they had "good values that we, every single one of us, need to have. God-given freedom."
"I didn't think New Blue would win as a party, but I thought Belinda and Jim [would] get in. But so they didn't. It was disappointing," she said.
"We have to do grassroots and let people know what New Blue does. So this is just the first election and I look forward to the next one."
'Keep engaging'
Jim Karahalios said they plan to spend the next four years building the party even more.
"We're going to keep engaging with our grassroots members, building our riding associations and growing our supporters and our membership ranks and getting ready for the next election campaign so that we can keep running candidates in every single riding in order to challenge the establishment, balance the narrative and change the course," he said.
Belinda said she plans to take some time to relax after a "very long, busy four years" serving as Cambridge's MPP.
But she said the couple, who have a young son, will continue to work together to build a party they feel welcomes people who have differing opinions from the parties currently in power.
She added she's thrilled to be able to grow the party with her husband.
"It can be so busy and so time consuming and just like it takes over your entire life. So the fact that we are in it together kind of makes it easier," she said. "It was kind of wonderful to be able to go through that with my husband together."