Conservative Scot Davidson wins York-Simcoe byelection

Riding has new MP for first time in 14 years after Peter Van Loan left federal politics

Yorkregion.com
Feb. 26, 2019
Heidi Riedner

Voters in York-Simcoe stayed true to form, and Tory blue, after voting in Conservative candidate Scot Davidson in Feb. 25’s byelection.

Declaring victory around 10:45 p.m. when leading Liberal candidate Shaun Tanaka by more than 1,000 votes, an elated Davidson sent a special thank you to voters.

"We tried really hard to get our message out to voters," Davidson told a crowd of family, friends and party supporters at the Sutton Legion.

"It might have been my name on the ballot, but together we kept this riding Tory blue, and together we sent a message to Justin Trudeau that his days are numbered as prime minister."

The Georgina resident, who said he knocked on 16,000 doors leading up to the vote, thanked his wife, Suzanne, best buddy and son, Graydon, his campaign team, supporters and, most of all, the voters.

"I owe so much to all of you," he said.

He acknowledged his fellow candidates for fulsome debates on the issues and stressed he's looking forward to representing all interests in the riding.

"I want to be an MP for everyone," he said.

Nine candidates were vying to replace Conservative Peter Van Loan, who retired in September after 14 years as the riding’s MP.

Davidson was sitting at 6,301 votes with 105 of 136 polls reporting, besting closest challenger Tanaka (3,689 votes) in her second run at the federal seat, according to unofficial results.

A Georgina resident, Davidson -- who has owned and operated numerous small businesses, including Bonnie Boats Marina in Jackson’s Point, and has a degree in econ
omics -- ran a campaign centred around supporting small business and cutting red tape in an increasingly competitive global economy.

"I want to bring the small business back to Ottawa," he told reporters.

Critical of what he called mismanagement and the lack of necessary infrastructure funding under the Liberals, Davidson said federal funding could come into play in numerous joint projects important to the riding, including the construction of the Hwy. 400-404 Connecting Link, the health of Lake Simcoe and the modernization of agricultural operations.

About five per cent of eligible voters in York-Simcoe, or just more than 4,000, took advantage of advance polls, according to Elections Canada.

In total, it appeared voter turnout would be somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 per cent, according to the unofficial results.