Progressive Conservative candidate Sam Oosterhoff has won the riding of Niagara West, beating out the three other major-party candidates, who together with Oosterhoff, had an average age of 21 years and three months.
The 20-year-old Oosterhoff previously served as the MPP in the riding formerly known as Niagara West-Glanbrook. The riding was redrawn for the 2018 election to exclude the Glanbrook area of Hamilton. It now also extends as far south as Lake Erie.
Oosterhoff became the youngest MPP in the province’s history in 2016 after securing the nomination over future Ontario PC Party president Rick Dykstra, before comfortably defeating his NDP rival to win the seat for the Tories.
The Progress Conservative defeated his NDP rival by over 9,000 votes to win the seat in a 2016 byelection to replace former PC Leader Tim Hudak.
Oosterhoff has served in two standing committees during his time as MPP, and has handled two critic portfolios, namely science and digital government. In November, he brought forward his first private member’s bill, the Compassionate Care Act, which calls for the creation of a provincewide framework devoted to hospice palliative care.
A homeschooling graduate and unabashed social conservative, Oosterhoff is pro-life, an opponent of same-sex marriage and a supporter of parental rights in education.
He beat out 18-year-old Green party candidate Jessica Tillman, who was also voting for the first time, 20-year-old NDP candidate Curtis Fric and eldest candidate, 27-year-old Eric Fric.
—With files from Rahul Kalvapalle