VOTE 2019: Liberal incumbent Deb Schulte holds on to King-Vaughan in tight race

Conservative candidate Anna Roberts finishes second following an uneventful campaign

Yorkregion.com
Oct. 22, 2019
Jeremy Grimaldi

Liberal incumbent Deb Schulte won in King-Vaughan suggesting she's always willing to work with the other side.

Schulte, a former Vaughan regional councillor, was declared the victor over Conservative competitor Anna Roberts, by less than 1,000 votes with 211 of 249 polls reporting, according to unofficial results.

"I'm delighted, excited and grateful," she said before addressing a rowdy crowd at 9 Baci in Maple.

Asked what she thought the Liberals would do in the case of a minority government, she said much of what the party has done in the past.

"We always work with the other side, we take the best ideas from everyone," she said.

As for what message the voters sent to the Liberals who may have lost their majority and might have to share power with rivals, Schulte suggested voters want to see the new government bring the country together.

"We may have done some good but we have lots of work to do," she told yorkregion.com. "It was a very divisive campaign. We have to bring everyone together and I think we are the party to do that. Our job now is to reach out to those we did not resonate well with. We have a lot of work to do and that's something I'm going to take very seriously."

The challenge she said was to come together and work together in places where division exists, specifically mentioning Alberta.

First elected in 2015, Schulte spent much of her first term as a backbencher.

In her acceptance speech, Schulte thanked supporter Marilyn Iafrate, a former colleague on Vaughan council who was at the victory party.