It is a quick election turnaround for Tyler Allsopp.
After winning the by-election in the fall, Allsopp was back to the polls once again, but this time in a general election.
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The PC candidate was elected on Thursday night with about 45 per cent of the vote.
He says it was different from the fall.
Audio Player“Out there in the cold and slipping around. We had to drill in the signs and hammer in the rebar this time around. It was great, it was a really local campaign. A lot of my family members braved the cold with me to door-knock.”
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Reelected MPP Tyler Allsopp (c) speaks with Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams (l) and Belleville Mayor Neil Ellis (r) (Photo: Alana Cameron/ Quinte News)
He says the economy was far from the only issue, but it was what he heard most about at the doors.
Audio Player“We’ve got that mandate now to go out there and protect Ontario against the tariff threat that we’re facing from Donald Trump. It’s a really challenging issue. It could affect up to 450,00 jobs if it is those 25 per cent sweeping tariffs across the board.”
Bay of Quinte Liberal candidate Dave O’Neil did not decide to put his hat in the ring until the day before the election campaign began.
The Quinte West councillor says he was proud of how his campaign was executed.
Audio Player“I didn’t have any people in place at all. The people I did get in place, they were working fulltime, but they were committed, they were committed to the Liberal values. I made a lot of good friends and I feel we couldn’t do any more than we did.”
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Bay of Quinte NDP Candidate Amanda Robertson (c) with supporters at Bistro 116 Thursday night (Photo: Alan-Michael Steele)
“We are fighting voter apathy across the province that, I haven’t seen the final numbers, but I think our voter turnout has been pretty low again this time. We’ve got to figure out a way to get people back connected with politics and with their government.”
“As Greens, we don’t just focus on election day. We focus on driving change every day, so we’re already planning our future speaker events and how to roll them out across the riding and build a real sense of community.”
