PC Brian Riddell wins 2nd term in Cambridge

Progressive Conservative Brian Riddell will keep his seat in Cambridge.

With all 66 polls reporting:

• Riddell had 19,195 votes.
• Liberal Rob Deustchmann had 15,121 votes.
• NDP's Marjorie Knight had 5,073 votes.
• Green's Carla Johnson had 2,515 votes.
• New Blue Party's Belinda Karahalios had 2,025 votes.

At his post-election party at Blackshop in Cambridge, Riddell said the news was "slowly sinking in."

He said he felt he was able to connect with voters by going door-to-door rather than take part in media interviews or panels.

"I'd rather listen to people at the doors. They're the ones with the concerns, they're the ones so they're going to vote. And you learn so much more knocking on doors than you do in a debate," Riddell said.

In going back to Queen's Park, Riddell says he'll focus on health care, housing and jobs.

"No one wants to go to the hospital, but sometimes you have to go to the hospital and it's good to have things happen there," he said. 

"I want to work on housing and I want to work on growing people. We brought 1,600 jobs in BWXT is 350 jobs right there. I want to keep that momentum going and growing."

'Very difficult' to challenge an incumbent

Not far from Riddell's party at his campaign office, Deutchmann said he was disappointed to come in second, but it wasn't surprise.

"Whenever you're challenging an incumbent, especially an incumbent for the governing party, it's very difficult," he said.

Deutschmann, who is the former mayor of North Dumfries and who resigned his regional council seat in January to run in this election, says he plans to now go back to his law practice.

He also thanked the volunteers who worked on the four-week campaign.

"I wish we could have had a better result, more so for them than myself, because, you know, I'm very humbled by the fact that they have put their faith in me to be the candidate," he said. "That's a very humbling experience and one that I'll remember for a long time."

Riding history

Cambridge has been a riding since 1975. The first Member of the Provincial Parliament for the area was Montgomery "Monty" Davidson, a member of the NDP, who served until 1981.

William "Bill" Barlow, a Progressive Conservative, served the riding from 1981 to 1987. He was followed by Mike Farnan, a member of the New Democratic Party, who served as the riding's MPP from 1987 to 1995.

The riding went to the Progressive Conservatives from 1995 to 2014. Gerry Martiniuk was the MPP until 2011 and Rob Leone was the MPP until 2014. In 2014, Liberal Kathryn McGarry won the seat and held it for one term.

McGarry lost her seat to PC candidate Belinda Karahalios in 2018. Karahalios was removed from the PC caucus during her term and ran in the 2022 provincial election as a candidate for a party she helped to form called the New Blue Party of Ontario.

Karahalios lost her seat in the 2022 election when PC candidate Brian Riddell won.