DURHAM RIDING TO SELECT NEW MPP IN 2022 PROVINCIAL ELECTION

CHALLENGERS LINED UP TO REPLACE LINDSEY PARK

THE RIDING: Durham Riding is comprised of Scugog Township, including the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation, north Oshawa and a large chunk of Clarington.

According to Elections Ontario, the riding is 914 square kilometres in size and, based on 2016 census data, has a population of nearly 131,000 people. The riding has been a Conservative stronghold for the past 25 years, with Tories holding the seat for all but four years when Liberal Granville Anderson pulled off an upset in 2014. Lindsey Park reclaimed the

Durham MPP'S chair in 2018, but the rookie politician resigned from the Conservative caucus in the fall of 2021 after the party claimed she had "misrepresented" her COVID-19 vaccine status. She is not seeking re-election.

THE RACE: Traditionally, Durham Riding has been a two-horse race between the Conservatives and Liberals. Bowmanville lawyer Todd Mccarthy has been tapped to carry the Conservative flag in 2022, seeking to keep Durham in the Tory fold after Park won the riding four years ago. This will be Anderson's third election under the Liberal banner; he was somewhat of a surprise winner in 2014, but failed to keep his seat in 2018 when Park cruised to an easy victory. The New Blue Party will field Spencer Ford, a former police officer turned

businessperson, looking to secure a seat for the fledgling party. Tony Stravato, an independent candidate with a focus on autism supports, will also be on the June 2 ballot. Chris Borgia will represent the NDP; he's president of the Durham Region Labour Council. According to Elections

Ontario, Lou de Vuono will be the Ontario Party candidate for Durham Riding, however he's not listed on the party's website as running in the election.

THE ISSUES: Affordability, jobs, home prices, rebuilding the economy following the COVID-19 pandemic and improving key infrastructure are among the issues that candidates have raised — and politicians have included in their platforms — ahead of the June 2 election.

BACKGROUND: Conservative John O'toole, father of former federal Tory leader Erin O'toole, was part of Ontario Premier Mike Harris's ' Common Sense Revolution' sweep of Ontario in 1995 and he held the Durham MPPS seat until his retirement in 2014. Mike Patrick, the Tory tapped to replace O'toole, lost the Conservative's grip on that seat in the 2014 election but Park regained Durham Riding in 2018 when a blue wave led by Doug Ford swept the Tories to party and ended a Liberal dynasty in Ontario. In the 2018 election, Park captured 28,575 votes, followed by the NDP'S Joel Usher (19,253), Liberal Granville Anderson

(10,237), Michelle Corbett of the Green Party (2,360) and Ryan Robinson of the Ontario Libertarian Party (382). Out of 102,471 eligible voters, 61,416 (nearly 60-per cent) cast a ballot.

AN EXPERT'S OPINION: "This is an election for the Progressive Conservatives to lose, they're in the driver's seat right now," says David Sheinin, a history professor at Trent University and political commentator.

He expects inflation, the economy and housing to be the issues that dominate election discussion over the coming weeks, both in Durham Region and across the province.

In Durham riding, Sheinin says the Progressive Conservatives are polling at 40.8 per cent, "more than enough to win a landslide."

In general, he says "Liberals haven't resonated enough with voters to take them over the top, since again people are worried about a split vote on the left or centre-left."