Independent MPP credits voters for making 'courageous' choice to reelect her in Haldimand-Norfolk

An independent candidate in Haldimand-Norfolk says she thinks her honest, genuine representation of her riding helped her defy the odds and recapture her seat in Queen's Park in Thursday night's election. 

Bobbi Ann Brady was the only independent candidate elected as an MPP in the 2025 election. 

With nearly 64 per cent of the vote, she beat out runner-up Progressive Conservative candidate Amy Martin, the mayor of Norfolk County, in the rural, southern Ontario riding by more than 20,000 votes. 

Brady made history in 2022 when she became the first woman to be elected as an independent MPP without a past win with a political party — and also the only independent candidate elected to Queen's Park in that election. 

Brady said she's grateful to the people of Haldimand-Norfolk for making a "bold and courageous" choice to elect her not once, but twice. 

"The courage that it takes to go to the ballot box and do something that the major parties have conditioned us not to do, that speaks volumes to the people of Haldimand Norfolk."

Brady said she thinks her win sends a strong message that there is room for an independent voice at Queens Park. 

While not having the resources of a major political party is challenging, Brady said she thinks her supporters back her because she doesn't have to tow the party line. 

"I think they love the fact that I can go to Queens Park in a very honest and genuine way," Brady said. 

"I'm not under anyone's thumb. No leader can tell me what I can and cannot say."

Beat Ford-backed candidate in PC stronghold in 2022 

Brady is the former executive assistant of longtime PC MPP Toby Barrett, who previously held the Haldimand Norfolk riding and suggested Brady take his place when he decided not to run for an eighth term in 2022. 

Instead, Premier Doug Ford opted for longtime Haldimand County mayor Ken Hewitt to run for the PCs in the riding. That set the stage for a battle between Brady, who had the support of the outgoing MPP, and Hewitt, who had the party's branding behind him.

It's typically almost impossible for an independent candidate to get elected to office because voters can have hard time determining what candidates stand for without a party standing behind them, says York University Political Scientist Dennis Pilon. 

"It's why voter turnout at the local level is always lower than at the provincial and federal level," Pilon said. 

"It's not simply that people don't care about local politics, because they actually do. It's that they can't figure out what everybody stands for without some kind of weather vane pointing them in the right direction — and that's what a party label does."

Pilon thinks the contention around PC nomination contest in Haldimand Norfolk in 2022 created a groundswell of support for Brady when she won the first time, said

"Almost every time an independent gets elected, it's because there was some unusual situation."

Isaac Peters, who lives in Brady's riding, said he voted for her in 2022 because she had been backed by Barrett — and didn't like how she was treated by Ford. 

"That kind of got me interested in her," he said. 

Peters said he was impressed by how Brady stood up for her constituents' as an independent MPP, which convinced him to vote for her again. 

"She's still making a difference," he said.