NDP Takes KW Bye Election

I'm not exactly sure what to make of the NDP winning the KW bye election with 40.7% of the vote, versus 31.1% for the Tories and 23.6% for the governing Liberals. Obviously not great news for the Tories and Tim Hudak considering that the retiring Elizabeth Witmer had a lock on the riding for the Tories before being enticed away with McGuinty pork appointment.

Not great news for the Liberals either. No majority, and despite their machinations with Witmer they only came up with 23.6% of the vote. Thus the committees stay in opposition hands (more Ornge and even more Ornge) and the opposition can end this government if they feel like it.

The Ontario teachers unions went all in in this bye election and it seems to have some effect. I'm not sure if they can replicate this across the province in the next election, but it doesn't look good for the Liberals. I'm also not sure how many teachers are living in that riding, but I am impressed by the NDP vote.

Finally the KW riding may be changing. In Ontario, urban ridings are pretty much the only place the NDP gets elected. KW has a bigger overall population now and has two sizable universities. That's a recipe for more NDP votes. We'll see what happens to this riding in the next election.