Conservatives make gains in the region, with nine candidates elected, and two Liberals winning in the Markham area Newmarket, Aurora and most of York Region are awakening to a Liberal government, but will be represented by a Conservative MP following last night's election. Newmarket-Aurora Conservative Sandra Cobena won the riding, the first time the riding has not gone with the winning party in five federal elections. Much of York Region similarly voted Conservative, including Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, King-Vaughan, Thornhill, Markham-Unionville, New Tecumseh-East Gwilimbury, Richmond Hill South, York-Durham and Vaughan-Woodbridge.
Only two ridings did go Liberal, with Markham-Stouffville and Markham-Thornhill remaining red. Newmarket Deputy Mayor Tom Vegh offered congratulations on social media. “The people have spoken, and in a democracy, the people are never wrong,” Vegh said.
“Congratulations to Sandra Cobena (Conservative) on her decisive win in Newmarket-Aurora. I am looking forward to working with Sandra to make Newmarket and York Region even better.” Cobena won with more than 2,483 votes over Liberal contender Jennifer McLachlan, according to preliminary polling results, 31,230 votes versus 28,747 votes. The only other candidate in the riding, Anna Gollen, had 1,442 votes.
Newmarket-Aurora’s voter turnout was slightly above the national average. Elections Canada estimated a turnout of 67.4 per cent based on polls voting so far, excluding electors who registered on election day. For Newmarket, 61,419 ballots have been counted with only one poll left to be counted, of 88,179 electors on the list, which would be a turnout of about 69.6 per cent.
In 2021, the national voter turnout was 62.6 per cent, while the Newmarket-Aurora turnout was about 60.7 per cent. Aurora Mayor Tom Mrakas also offered congratulations to Cobena and Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill Conservative winner Costas Menegakis, who unseated incumbent Liberal Leah Taylor Roy. “I am looking forward to working together with both for the betterment of Aurora!” Mrakas said on social media.
While the Conservatives made gains in York Region, the Liberals are set to form a minority government with a projected 168 seats, versus the 144 seats of the Conservatives. Newmarket-Aurora MPP Dawn Gallagher Murphy was at Cobena’s event on election night and also offered congratulations. “I look forward to working with you as our representative in Ottawa,” Gallagher Murphy said.
“To all the candidates who put their name on the ballot – thank you for your participation in our democratic process.” Elsewhere in the region, Conservative Michael Guglielmin won Vaughan-Woodbridge with 60 per cent of the vote over Liberal incumbent Francesco Sorbara. In King-Vaughan, Conservative Anna Roberts held onto her seat, earning 61.8 per cent of the vote to defeat Liberal Mubarak Ahmed. Meanwhile, Richmond Hill South Conservative Vincent Ho won with 52.6 per cent over Liberal Majid Jowhari.
In New Tecumseh-East Gwillimbury, Conservative incumbent Scot Davidson won with 59.5 per cent of the vote over Liberal Mike Hanrahan, while Conservative Jacob Mantle won with 55.6 per cent of the vote over Liberal Robert Grossi in York-Durham. Conservative Melissa Lantsman returns to Parliament Hill after winning the Thornhill riding with 66.2 per cent of the vote over Liberal Liane Kotler. In Markham-Unionville, Conservative Michael Ma won a tight race with 50.9 per cent of the voter over Liberal Peter Yuen.
Liberal Tim Hodgson won Markham Thornhill with 54.3 per cent of the vote over Conservative Lionel Loganathan. Longtime Liberal MP Helena Jaczek won with 51.3 per cent of the vote in Markham-Stouffville, over Conservative Niran Jeyanesan.
