For much of the evening, the race was close, but ultimately, New Democrat Taras Natyshak won re-election in the riding of Essex in Thursday's Ontario election.
Natyshak, elected to his third term, will join the NDP's Lisa Gretzky in Windsor West, and Percy Hatfield in Windsor-Tecumseh in opposition at Queen's Park.
He calls it a bittersweet victory.
"We had hoped for better results. We know that Toronto is key to any electoral success and we had hoped that those Liberals who had been abandoned, essentially, by their leader would choose a different path," Natyshak told reporters Thursday night.
Taras Natyshak is re-elected in the riding of Essex, June 7, 2018. (Photo by Alyssa Leonard)
On the Progressive Conservatives winning a majority, Natyshak did not mince words.
"We don't know where this province is going to go. There were no numbers attached to any of their promises," he said. "It's going to be a new reality that we're going to have to come to terms with."
During the campaign, Progressive Leader Doug Ford committed to meeting with community leaders to talk about widening Hwy. 3. Then, later the same day, Ford committed to expanding the highway.
"We're going to hold them to both of those commitments. And they have to happen immediately. There's no more time for discussion," Natyshak said. "We'll see if their word is worth anything."
Early on, Natyshak faced stiff competition from Progressive Conservative Chris Lewis. In the end, Natyshak got over 48% of the vote compared to Lewis at 42%. Kate Festeryga of the Liberals ended the night with 5% of the votes, and Nancy Pancheshan of the Green Party had 3%.
Unofficial results from Election Ontario say 57.9% of the electorate cast a ballot in the election.