News Local News Ontario Election
Progressive Conservative Matthew Rae has been re-elected on Thursday as the ruling party held onto its majority.
Feb 27, 2025 • Last updated Feb 28, 2025 •
Joined by wife Meghan, Matthew Rae speaks to supporters at the Mitchell Golf & Country Club after his win in Perth-Wellington on Feb. 27. (Andy Bader/Postmedia Network)
Perth-Wellington is still blue.
This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Matthew Rae of the Progressive Conservative Party was re-elected on Thursday as Premier Doug Ford’s party kept its majority following a snap election called last month.
Rae, who first took office in 2022 after succeeding Randy Pettapiece, received over 20,000 votes with most of the riding’s 59 polling stations reporting-around 8,000 more than Liberal candidate Ashley Fox.
“Tonight, the good people of Perth-Wellington and Ontario have made their voices heard,” said Rae, with wife Meghan by his side, addressing supporters at the Mitchell Golf and Country Club. “They’ve chosen to re-elect a strong, stable majority Conservative government.”
He acknowledged that there are “great challenges ahead for us in the province and country. We’re facing the greatest crisis since our country was founded.”
This has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.
This has not loaded yet , but your article continues below.
The 34-year-old parliamentary assistant to the minister of municipal affairs and housing mentioned that he feels like he’s getting “whiplash” from ongoing tariff threats from U. S. President Donald Trump. However, he assured that the Ford government would be prepared whenever tariffs are put into place.
“The world our parents and grandparents knew is literally shifting beneath us, and we’re stepping into uncharted territory,” he stated. “We’ll strive to make sure Ontario’s economy remains competitive for investment, job creation, and business.”
Ashley Fox, a local nurse running for Liberals said she wouldn’t change anything about her second campaign.
“Honestly, we ran a very good campaign with support across parties which is rare.”
Jason Davis from NDP came in third with over 5,100 votes.
This has not loaded yet but your article continues below.
Davis expressed satisfaction with how much work everyone put in and all the great conversations they had during the campaign despite finishing third.
“With what we were up against I’m really happy with our efforts,” he added. He also pointed out strategic voting went towards Liberals who were expected to come second behind PCs according to polls.
“I just don’t understand that,” he mentioned.
Green Party candidate Ian Morton finished fourth with over 3 ,000 votes – slightly above what his party earned locally during the last election which was one of his targets.
Morton stated he’s going to keep building momentum while offering voters an alternative , promising to run again next time.
“I’m really proud of our campaign,” he expressed. “While you always want more votes , I’m pretty pleased with where we ended up. There’s definitely more coming in future elections.”
This has not loaded yet , but your article continues below.
The riding was established in 2003 and has been a PC stronghold since Randy Pettapiece won it from Liberal John Wilkinson by just210 votes back in2011. Pettapiece successfully defended his seatin2014and2018before stepping down prior tothe2022election.
