Three PC ridings show region’s divides

WATERLOO REGION — In a province divided, a region is divided as well.

Unofficial poll-by-poll results from Thursday’s Ontario election show deep splits in three local ridings, between downtown and suburban voters, and between suburban and rural voters.

Voters split between right and left, between Progressive Conservatives and New Democrats, as the region joined with the province to change governments.

Analyzing neighbourhood results from 283 polling stations across five ridings, there is consistent NDP strength in Waterloo and Kitchener Centre, both won handily by New Democrats.

But there are deep cleavages across the region’s three other ridings, all won by Conservatives with smaller margins. In all five local ridings, voters completely shut out Liberals in the middle.

Consider Kitchener-Conestoga. It’s a sprawling riding that mixes Kitchener suburbs with swaths of countryside across three rural townships.

Kitchener suburbanites who live west of Fischer-Hallman Road voted New Democrat, just like their city neighbours who overwhelmingly elected New Democrat Laura Mae Lindo in Kitchener Centre.

But the riding’s rural residents voted Conservative. Their fealty helped carry the day for Conservative Mike Harris, who narrowly won the riding.

In the Cambridge riding, the split is between suburban and downtown voters.

In Preston and central Galt, voters went New Democrat. But all around them in the suburbs, voters went with Conservative Belinda Karahalios, who won the riding.

Kitchener Centre is the most uniform local riding. The NDP carried almost the entire city, winning every neighbourhood west of River Road. The Conservative candidate won every neighbourhood east of River Road.

Waterloo was a sea of NDP support. Neighbourhoods across the city voted to re-elect New Democrat Catherine Fife. A handful of neighbourhoods opted for the Conservative candidate.

Kitchener South-Hespeler, a new riding, begins as a patchwork. Voters in older Kitchener suburbs, along Fairway and Block Line roads, voted New Democrat, joined by one neighbourhood in the Hespeler area of Cambridge.

But rural and suburban Hespeler neighbourhoods voted for Conservative Amy Fee, as did newer Kitchener suburbs in the

Doon area. Fee narrowly won the riding.

Liberals lost everywhere after going into the riding holding two of four local seats.

A neighbourhood poll is won by the candidate who takes the most votes. Conservative candidates won 80 polls across the region to win three ridings. New Democrat candidates won 178 polls to win two ridings by bigger margins. The Liberals won only 15 polls.

Neighbourhood polls won by each party in each riding:

Cambridge: The winning Conservatives won 30 polls, the NDP won 28, the Liberals won nine and four polls were tied.

Kitchener Centre: The winning NDP won 52 polls, the Conservatives won six, and the Liberals won two. Kitchener-Conestoga: The winning Conservatives won 23 polls, the NDP won 17, the Liberals won one, and two polls were tied.

Kitchener South-Hespeler:

The winning Conservatives won 16 polls, the NDP won 28 polls, the Liberals won one, and two polls were tied.

Many polls won by the NDP are small.

Waterloo:

The winning New Democrats won 53 polls, the Conservatives won five, the Liberals won two, and two were tied.

Go to therecord.com to see how your riding and neighbourhood voted