Newmarket-Aurora Liberal candidate and incumbent MP Tony Van Bynen earned another narrow margin of victory over the local Conservative candidate last night.
With 181 of 182 polls reporting, Van Bynen is up by 2,439 votes over Conservative Harold Kim, though mail-in ballots and final results remain to be declared by Elections Canada. Meanwhile, the riding also saw an increase in support for the People's Party of Canada.
Here is a summary of Newmarket-Aurora preliminary election results:
Liberal Tony Van Bynen — 22,283, 43.3 per cent
Conservative Harold Kim — 19,843, 38.5 per cent
NDP Yvonne Kelly — 5,936, 11.5 per cent
PPC Andre Gagnon — 2,216, 4.3 per cent
Green Tim Flemming — 956, 1.9 per cent
Independent Dorian Baxter — 246, 0.5 per cent
Voting turnout —56 per cent, which does not include electors who registered on election day.
2019 results comparison
The margin of victory is comparable to previous elections. Tony Van Bynen defeated Conservative Lois Brown by 2,878 votes in 2019. Former Liberal MP Kyle Peterson won by a slimmer margin, 1,451 over Lois Brown in 2015.
However, there are some changes compared to 2019. Yvonne Kelly garnered fewer votes compared to 2019 (6,576), though more of a vote share (10.5 per cent in 2019). But Green Party support collapsed; Green candidate Walter Bauer garnered 5.8 per cent of the Newmarket-Aurora vote in 2019.
The People's Party of Canada had a better showing compared to the 588 votes it garnered in 2019, which only represented one per cent.
Dorian Baxter, this time running as an Independent, garnered fewer votes, having earned 901 in 2019 for a one per cent vote share.
Neighbouring riding results
The Liberals carried the Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill riding, with Leah Taylor Roy — sister of Newmarket Mayor John Taylor — defeating incumbent Conservative Leona Allselev by 1,084 votes before mail-in ballots are counted.
In Markham-Stouffville to the east, the Liberals also won, with incumbent Helena Jaczek defeating Conservative Ben Smith by 8,295 votes.
But ridings went blue to the north and west. In King-Vaughan, Conservative Anna Roberts unseated the Liberal incumbent Deb Schulte by 1,372 votes. Meanwhile, in York Simcoe, Conservative incumbent Scot Davidson held onto his seat with a 10,032 vote win over Liberal Daniella Johnson.
