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A true Conservative stronghold is likely to be awash in a wave of blue again tonight.
Officially, the riding of Simcoe North was created in 1996 and since then it has been held by a Progressive Conservative. But prior to some geographical changes, the riding was known as Simcoe East and it, too, had been held by Tories for several decades.
It's up to you to determine if that trend continues. Today, is election day. You can cast your ballot from 9 a.m. until 9 p.m. Visit voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca to find your voting location.
But before you cast your ballot, do your homework. Our election page has tons of information about Simcoe North, its candidates, the issues, on top of stories about the leaders, provincial issues and much more.
This time around, Jill Dunlop, who has a senior post as minister of education, is seeking a third term. Click here to read her profile.
The other three major parties have relatively unknown candidates, each of whom are seeking office in Simcoe North for the first time. Teen Jordi Malcolm is carrying the NDP banner, Walter Alvarez-Bardales is flying the Liberal colours and Christopher Carr is representing the Green Party.
Dave Brunelle is running for the New Blue Party and William Joslin is running for the Libertarian Party.
Dunlop was first elected in 2018, when she garnered almost 49 per cent of the ballots cast in the riding.
Despite being a rookie, Premier Doug Ford selected her to serve as the associate minister of children and women’s issues. She was later promoted to the minister of colleges and universities.
In the 2022 election, Dunlop won 49.8 per cent of the vote in Simcoe North, easily cruising to re-election. In that June vote, Dunlop garnered 23,041 votes to finish atop the polls.
Elizabeth Van Houtte, of the NDP, finished second with 8,208 votes, collecting 17.74 per cent of the votes. Rookie Liberal candidate Aaron Cayden Hiltz finished third after earning 8,070 votes, or 17.44 per cent of the vote.
Krystal Brooks (Green) earned 4,071 votes, while Mark Douris of the New Blue Party finished fifth (1,438 votes), Aaron McDonald of the Ontario Party was sixth (1,119) and Libertarian candidate William Joslin was last with 328 votes.
Everyone voting on Election Day is encouraged to check their assigned voting location before voting by entering their postal code in Voter Information Service at elections.on.ca, by downloading the Elections Ontario app or by consulting their Voter Information Card, which has been mailed to all registered voters.
Voter Information Cards are intended to make the process easier, but they are not a requirement to vote. Every Canadian citizen who is 18 years of age or older on Feb. 27 and who is an Ontario resident is eligible to vote.
Visit voterinformationservice.elections.on.ca to find your voting location.
We will have live updates and results once the polls close tonight. Check back here throughout the night to see who won in Simcoe North and beyond.