Skelly wins in new riding; lone PC in an NDP city
Donna Skelly will be the lone Hamilton member of a new PC majority government after winning a hard-fought battle for the new provincial riding of Flamborough Glanbrook.
The city councillor joined a wave of Progressive Conservative victories across Ontario — but first had to beat back a surprisingly strong NDP challenge from Welland resident and last-minute candidate Melissa McGlashan.
Skelly ultimately took the riding by a few thousand votes, bucking the local orange trend across the rest of Hamilton.
“It was an emotional roller-coaster,” said a jubilant Skelly. “I think voters sent a very strong message to elected officials ... They want respect for the taxpayer. They will no longer stand for corruption, deceit
HOW THEY VOTED*
19,438 Donna Skelly, PC 15,463 Melissa McGlashan, NDP 6,790 Judi Partridge, Liberal 2,064 Janet Errygers, Green 482 Glenn Langton, Libertarian n/a Roman Sarachman, Trillium n/a Rudy Miller, None of the Above and fiscal mismanagement.”
The third time was the charm for Skelly, who had previously run unsuccessfully in 2011 and 2014 in the former riding of Ancaster-Dundas-Flamborough-Westdale.
Skelly, 57, wouldn’t speculate about her chances of joining Premier-elect Doug Ford’s cabinet. But the PC leader listed the former CHCH television personality as one of several strong candidates ready to “provide leadership” during the campaign.
Skelly said one of her first priorities is to “respect the rural nature” of the new riding and hire a staffer with farming background.
The staunch opponent of Hamilton’s provincially funded LRT plan has also said she is committed to ensuring city council has the opportunity — if it so chooses — to switch gears and use the $1 billion in project money for other transit or infrastructure priorities.
The victory sets up an open municipal election battle for Skelly’s soon-to-be vacated Ward 7 Mountain council seat this fall. It also means the third-place Liberal candidate in the riding, Judi Partridge, will run again for her current Ward 15 Flamborough council seat.