While some thought the race in Niagara Centre was a tossup, it didn’t turn out that way.
Jeff Burch managed to hold off a challenge from Progressive Conservative candidate and Port Colborne Mayor Bill Steele, winning the district by a just over 2,400 votes and 42.9 per cent of the votes cast. It was a bigger margin than 2022, when Burch held off PC challenger Fred Davies by just a little more than 800 votes.
There is a reason for the improved results, Burch said.
“We've had an opportunity to build incumbency my last term. My first term was interrupted by COVID, and so it's pretty hard when you're at home during a pandemic, to do that.”
Traditionally NDP territory, there was some thought prior to votes being cast that the Niagara Centre race could go either way. Heading into election day, 338Canada had all four Niagara districts leaning toward the PC’s but that didn’t come to pass. Niagara residents stuck with the status quo, returning its three NDP MPPs – Burch, along with Jennie Stevens (St. Catharines) and Wayne Gates (Niagara Falls) to buck the provincial trend.
Sam Oosterhoff, meanwhile, won easily in Niagara West and kept the district Tory blue.
Burch said he takes little stock in polls and relies more on what he hears while campaigning.
“It became pretty obvious through the campaign, especially toward the end, that things were going much better for us in this election than in the last one,” Burch said. “It's always going to be tense, but the feeling on the ground was much better.”
While Niagara stayed orange for the most part, Burch did take note that the NDP’s fortunes province-wide took a dip and there was always the concern that could affect things locally.
“When you look at the provincial polling, our numbers were lower than last time, significantly,” he said. “That was the worrying part, because you wonder how much that's going to affect your local campaign.”
Health care was a big issue for voters – notably reduced services at the Welland hospital and the plans to close the urgent care centre in Port Colborne.
Steele did call the Burch campaign to congratulate him, which Burch said, “was good.”
But he also voiced concern about not only Steele, but other PC challengers in Niagara as well, skipping debates and not speaking with the media,
“That, to me, is not a good thing for democracy,” Burch said. “I think that the media needs to have access, because the media is there to give information to people. And debates are the opportunity for the electorate, who are the boss, to decide whether or not they want to hire you.”
ThoroldToday reached out to the Steele campaign for comment, but as has been the case throughout the campaign, received no reply.
Liberal Damien O’Brien came third garnering 14.74 per cent of ballots cast with 7,145 votes.
He was quick to congratulate Burch on his win.
“It was a real pleasure to debate and engage with him on the issues that matter in Niagara Centre,” he said. “I wish him the very best.”
He added he was grateful for the opportunity to carry the Liberal banner in the district.
“Ontario Liberals in Niagara Centre got their best result in over 10 years and as a first-time candidate I was honoured to have the full support of local Liberals,” he said.