Progressive Conservative MPP Todd Smith celebrated his victory at the Belleville Club Thursday night, carrying 42.1 per cent of the vote. Photo by Ashliegh Gehl.
By Ashely Gehl
Four months ago Todd Smith never thought he’d be the candidate to dethrone a cabinet minister, pushing Ontario into a Liberal minority.
Newly elected Progressive Conservative Todd Smith captured 18,735 (42.1 per cent) votes as Liberal incumbent Leona Dombrowsky trailed with 15,688 (35.2 per cent) votes. NDP candidate Sherry Hayes received 7, 400 votes, a three per cent increase from the 2007 election.
“This is a huge accomplishment,” said Smith. “This is something that’s never been done before in the Prince Edward-Hastings riding. An incumbent MPP, a cabinet minister going down to defeat is just unheard of. And I’m so proud of everybody on my team.”
Dombrowsky dominated the Prince Edward-Hastings riding when she was first elected in 1999, holding political reins for the last 12 years. In 2010, she was elected at Ontario’s Minister of Education.
“When this got started four and half months ago I don’t think anyone thought we’d be here today,” Smith said. “It was kind of a fractured group and we started behind the eight ball, and our backs were against the wall.”
At the Belleville Club, a defeated Dombrowsky exchanged private words with Smith and parted with a smile before exited the building.
Smith said he thinks Dombrowsky believed she thought she was doing a good a job representing the riding, but the election night sent a different message.
“A lot of people are ready for change and I just think, again, I have to give super huge kudos to my team for getting out there and offering an alternative to what we’ve had over the last four years and for what a lot of the riding has had over the last 12 years,” said Smith.
Before stepping into politics, Smith was the voice behind the Belleville Bulls play-by-play and the news director for Quinte Broadcasting, a job he’ll be saying goodbye to after securing this new, political role. He lives with his wife Tawnya, and his two daughters Payton, 10, and Reagan, 8, in Belleville.
Smith credits Prince Edward-Hastings MP Darryl Kramp, who was re-elected in the 2011 federal election, as being one of the reasons he stepped up to the political plate.
Upon news of her loss, an upset Dombrowsky entered her headquarters with her daughter and husband, and two of her sons not far behind. She was met with applause, words of consolation and hugs from more than 80 supporters.
Addressing the crowd and all her supports, Dombrowsky couldn’t say enough about how much she appreciated the support over the years.
“I stood, I stand, our party stands, on your shoulders,” said Dombrowsky.
She credits to her loss to a combination of issues.
“We know that there were some unpopular things we had done. The HST of course. In this particular riding there was the Green Energy Act. There were folks in part of the riding that were vehemently opposed to that,” said Dombrowsky.
She first claimed the Prince Edward-Hastings riding 2007. She has held multiple positions in the government including Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and Minister of the Environment.
With news of Smith’s win, NDP candidate Sherry Hayes thanked her supporters and campaign team, sharing sentiments of fear after the votes came in.
“The loss is hard to swallow, I fear for people in this riding with who they elected,”
said Hayes.
Even without the victory Hayes still feels like she put together a solid campaign by engaging young people and rallying voters in North Hastings, a region often overlooked.
Andy Hanson, Hayes’ campaign manager, said their main goal was to get people voting.
“There are 3,000-plus students at Loyalist College, what does that say? Young voters are the future of the party, we fought to get the poll back there but Elections Ontario didn’t want it,” said Hanson.
Elections Ontario removed the polling station at Loyalist when the support workers strike was called. They can’t to cross the picket line.
Hayes lives in McArthur’s Mill east of Bancroft and works at Community Care North Hastings in Bancroft
Provincially, the Liberals sealed a minority government with 37.6 per cent of the vote, losing 23 seats. The Conservative’s were a close second at 35.4 per cent, picking up 11 new seats. And NDP gained seven seats, securing 22.7 per cent of the vote.