ANALYSIS
By David Judd
THE Conservative was re-elected in a traditionally conservative riding.
That, in a nutshell, is the story of last week’s federal election in Haldimand-Norfolk riding.
Leslyn Lewis convincingly won a second term, increasing her share of the vote to 57.6 per cent, up from 47.4 per cent in her first election in 2021.
This round, Dr. Lewis played the front-runner’s role to perfection. Her campaign tightly controlled her message while limiting the chance of slip-ups to a minimum.
And the voters came through with another Conservative victory.
Conservative MPs have represented Norfolk for 41 of the last 60 years.
The Tory roll call includes Bill Knowles (1968–1979), Bud Bradley (1979–1988), Diane Finley (2004–2021) and Leslyn Lewis (2021 to present).
There have been just two Liberal MPs—Jack Roxburgh (1962–1968) and Bob Speller (1988–2004).
So odds were good that Dr. Lewis would retain Haldimand-Norfolk for the Conservatives.
Still, give her credit. Dr. Lewis had the advantage and she drove it home.
It was a big night, too, for Liberal candidate Colin Walsh who increased his party’s share of the vote to 36.4 per cent, up from 27.5 per cent in 2021.
Mr. Walsh put on a strong campaign, despite maintaining his teaching job at an elementary school in Simcoe.
He was helped by the collapse of the New Democrat vote, which dropped to 3.4 per cent, down from 13.3 per cent in 2021.
He also had help from Donald Trump, whose threats to Canada brought the federal Liberals back from the political dead and pulled the rug out from under Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre.
In February Premier Doug Ford and his Conservatives really cashed in on the fresh Trump threats, insisting Ontarians vote for them to fight back.
But by election night April 28, President Trump’s bluster seemed to wear thin. The Conservatives nationally almost caught the Liberals in the popular vote.
One odd thing about this election was a lack of buzz.
People weren’t excited. There wasn’t a lot of talk in the coffee shops, at least not in the ones I inhabit.
The turnout shows folks considered the election important.
Seventy-three per cent of Haldimand-Norfolk’s 99,311 registered voters went to the polls, up from 66 per cent in 2021.
People were keen to vote. They made up their minds and felt no need to talk about it.
On election night something happened that I hadn’t seen in 45 years of covering elections.
Nearly all of the local reporters assembled at a second-choice location—the campaign headquarters of Liberal Colin Walsh on Water Street in downtown Simcoe.
Normally, most reporters, including me, would have been with front-runner Leslyn Lewis.
We’d take photos of her claiming victory and write stories about what she said to her supporters.
But the Lewis campaign wouldn’t tell reporters where she was on election night.
She and her supporters would be at an undisclosed private residence and the media weren’t invited, campaign manager Josh Mallais said.
Mr. Mallais offered to email photos of Dr. Lewis at her victory party.
He also offered his cell number. Call the number and Dr. Lewis would answer questions.
That’s how reporters from The Maple Leaf, Simcoe Reformer, The Spectator, Simcoe Advocate, Haldimand Press and MyFM all ended up at the Liberal campaign office.
Mr. Walsh welcomed everyone and shared pizza and doughnuts.
About 11 o’clock, when the election’s outcome was clear, four reporters went outside where the cellphone signal was stronger and made a joint call for Dr. Lewis’s comments.
We stood under a street light on deserted Water Street, put cellphones side by side on the tailgate of the MyFM news cruiser and talked to Dr. Lewis on speaker.
She happily answered questions for about 10 minutes.
That’s how you cover this Conservative winner in a conservative riding.
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Originally published May 7, 2025
