Conservative incumbent Dave MacKenzie is projected to be re-elected in the riding of Oxford for seventh term.
Preliminary results showed MacKenzie ahead of the Liberal’s Elizabeth Quinto with a comfortable 27.2 per cent lead.
The percentage is similar to MacKenzie’s showing in 2019. MacKenzie recaptured the riding in the 2019 federal election, collecting 48.1 per cent of the vote and recording a 27.9 per cent lead over runner-up Matthew Chambers of the NDP.
Chambers came in second with 12,306 votes, followed by Brendan Knight of the Liberal Party, collecting 11,743 ballots.
MacKenzie first took hold of the seat in 2004, in his third attempt to win the riding.
Conservatives have held the seat for 59 of the 84 years the riding has been in existence. The Liberals held the riding from 1993 to 2004 under John Baird Finlay, and before that, from 1949 to 1953 under Clark Murray.
The electoral district, which has been around since 1935, has a population of 113,790, with 93,166 registered voters. Close to 90 per cent of people in this riding speak English as their first language, followed by Dutch and German, according to the 2016 census.
The Oxford riding is made up from Oxford County, Ont., which includes Woodstock, Ingersoll, Tavistock and Norwich as well as a portion of the County of Brant lying westerly of Etonia Road and East Quarter Townline Road.
Candidates
Conservative: Dave MacKenzie (incumbent)
Green: Bob Reid
Liberal: Elizabeth Quinto
NDP: Matthew Chambers
People’s Party of Canada: Wendy Martin
Christian Heritage Party of Canada: Allen Scovil