Mantle wins York-Durham for Conservatives
Roger Varley, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, with files from Lisha Van Nieuwenhove
Uxbridge resident Jacob Mantle won Monday's federal election in York-Durham riding, with final figures showing he won 55.5 per cent of the vote. His closest opponent, Liberal Rob Grossi, pulled down 39.6 per cent. The other candidates in the riding were also-rans.
Andy Leung, returning officer for the riding, said Tuesday that Mantle received 39,726 votes, while Grossi took in 28,317. Among the other candidates, Justin Graham of the NDP polled 1,821, Patricia Conlin of the People's Party of Canada had 900 votes and Matt {Pearce of the Greens trailed with 790. Overall, voter turnout in the riding was 71.76 per cent.
Conservative Jacob Mantle is the newly elected MP for York-Durham riding, which includes all of North Durham, part of Whitchurch-Stouffville, and portions of York Region, including Sutton and Keswick. Photo from jacobmantle.ca
For Mantle, 32, it was his second run for a seat in Parliament, having been beaten by Liberal Jennifer O’Connell in the Pickering-Uxbridge riding in the last federal election.
“Thank you, Uxbridge, for putting your faith in me and trusting that I can do that job,” said Mantle during a phone interview Tuesday morning as he collected campaign signs from around the riding. “I think this new riding is beneficial – the towns and communities within it share a lot of things: demographics, economics, geography, history... The north has these things in common, far more than with the south. Now we have one representative who can accurately describe and advocate for the small and rural town issues.”
This is the first federal election for the York-Durham riding, which encompasses an area that includes the Townships of Uxbridge, Brock and Scugog, part of Whitchurch-Stouffville, and stretches all the way up to Sutton and Keswick.
About 60 people gathered for a victory party at the Beach Lakefront Bar and Grill in Keswick. The mood was somewhat subdued during the evening as results came in showing the Liberal party was heading towards overall victory, but cheers went up as guests saw Conservatives in neighbouring ridings winning or leading in their races. The biggest cheer came when the first results for York-Durham flashed on the TV screens, showing Mantle already taking a commanding lead.
“It’s an unfortunate result on the national scene,” commented Mantle. “But we (the Conservatives) did better than we ever have best in my living memory, and we picked up seats we’ve never had before. We increased our seats - I think we did very well.”
Early in the evening, Mantle's father said "we're feeling pretty comfortable." Not long after, the TV screen showed that Nanos polling was predicting a win for Mantle.
As for what comes next, Mantle isn’t sure.
“I don’t know how it works with regards to going back and forth to Ottawa!” he quipped. “I didn’t look into it because I didn’t want to count my chickens before they hatched.”
Mantle says he plans to continue living locally, and is going to try and take some down time before the new government is called to Ottawa. He also needs to choose a location for his constituency office, saying he would like to pick somewhere that is accessible to the vast majority of his constituents. He even speculated on having two offices, but noted that that possibility depended on his budget.
The other candidates who ran in this riding were asked for comment on how they felt about the campaign and its outcome, and only two had responded by press time Tuesday.
Justin Graham, candidate for the NDP, submitted a Letter to the Editor, which can be found on page 4.
Green Party candidate Matt Pearce offered the following:
“This was my first campaign and I was setting a reasonable goal at one per cent of total vote share, and we were able to accomplish it. I know that is a very small amount, but we have to start somewhere in this new riding, and in this uncertain political climate.
It was a huge learning experience, and my personal biggest take away is just how nice everyone I engaged with was. People who absolutely were political opposites were still polite and gracious. It's been inspiring.
We'll see if this government can survive another four years, but next election, I'll be ready and much more experienced to run a more expansive campaign!”
Liberal candidate Rob Grossi and PPC candidate Patricia Conlin did not respond.