PC candidate Kevin Gaudet may have lost the race for Pickering-Scarborough East to Liberal Tracy MacCharles, but he said his party’s goal has been accomplished because it managed to knock the Liberals down to a minority government.
With most of the polls in, the Liberals have 53 seats, just one shy of a majority.
“Change may not have come to [this riding] but [is] coming to Ontario,” Gaudet told supporters.
Returning from congratulating MacCharles, Gaudet said he told her she was welcome to steal any of his ideas to at least get the Rouge River cleaned up.
“As Tracy pointed out,” Gaudet said, “you all know this isn’t my riding, but I felt at home.”
Gaudet broke down and cried when he thanked his family.
“I’m not sure if it was Aristotle or Yogi Berra who said, ‘You can’t win them all’,” he added.
As for what lies ahead for Gaudet, he said he was going to cut his lawn, celebrate his anniversary “and then who the hell knows?”
Some of Gaudet’s supporters said they had been expecting the Liberals to keep the Pickering-Scarborough East riding but were hoping for a change.
Brian, a PC supporter who declined to give his last name, said he thinks the loss is “pretty pathetic.”
“The thing I can’t understand about [the Conservatives],” he said, “is that they are not sending the correct message to voters.”
Brian, who has been a PC supporter for 20 years, said the party needs to do a better job and be accountable to their voters.
—With files from Chantelle Henriques