Election pundits say London North Centre is the race to watch, where constituents are guaranteed a new member of provincial parliament.
The bellwether riding has been represented since 2003 by Liberal MPP Deb Matthews, who isn’t seeking re-election this year. Former city staffer Kate Graham is running for the Liberal party instead.
“I got into this because I care about this city, and that remains just as true today as it was at the beginning,” responded Graham, when asked what she thought of her campaign, despite party leader Kathleen Wynne’s concession she won’t be re-elected premier.
“I think we’ve run a solid campaign, and our numbers are showing that we’re still seeing lots of support.”
A similar message is echoed by the riding’s Progressive Conservative candidate Susan Truppe and NDP candidate Terence Kernaghan.
“Our chances are great,” Kernaghan said.
“People really recognize that a vote for anything other than the NDP is a vote for a Doug Ford majority. People are nervous. They don’t want to see that happen in Ontario.”
But Truppe, who says she and her team have been canvassing for “about a year,” says she’s heard more positivity than negativity towards her party at the door.
“The momentum is good. We’ve got a great team of volunteers. We’ve left no stone unturned, and it feels really good,” she said.
What stands out to Truppe is how voters seem to realize this election as one of particular importance.
“Almost every single day, … there’s always someone praying for me. People are saying I’m in their prayers. Other people are saying, ‘We pray for you every Wednesday,'” she said.
“It connects with me because I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody say that to me in the last two elections.”
Graham, meanwhile, said her breath was taken away Wednesday by a handwritten card with a $5 cheque towards her campaign.
“It talked about the positivity of the campaign, and the person said, ‘I wish I could do more but I’d like to see someone who’s very positive be elected, so here’s my contribution.'”
The Laurier Institute for the Study of Public Opinion and Policy (LISPOP) projects London North Centre will elect the NDP’s Terence Kernaghan with an at least 10 per cent lead.
It projects similar NDP wins in the ridings of London-West, where the party’s Peggy Sattler is the incumbent, and in London-Fanshawe, where the party’s Teresa Armstrong is the incumbent.
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