Ernie Hardeman Re-elected as Oxford MPP

Thursday, 7 June 2018 at 23:45

MPP Elect Ernie Hardeman celebrates his latest win at the Woodstock Navy Club.

Conservative MPP Ernie Hardeman will represent Oxford for a seventh term, with a PC majority government this time around.

OXFORD COUNTY - That's four more years for Ernie Hardeman.

Oxford's Conservative MPP Elect has secured a seventh term.

Hardeman is thankful for all of the support he has received from the community over his 23 years so far.

"The only thing one can say is express gratitude for them doing it. Obviously I do the best I can and each time when you have an election and the results come out like they did today; it says I passed the test of whether I did a good enough job."

Hardeman is excited to be a part of a PC majority government this time around.

"As the opposition your job is to make sure the moving forward being done by government is the proper channel and point out where they are missing the mark. To have the opportunity to be actually part of implementing the change and let somebody else point out where we might not be meeting the mark; I think it's a great opportunity to actually solve some of the challenges that we're all facing."

With the PC's in power, Hardeman believes it won't be long before his Willing Host Bill is passed in the legislature.

NDP candidate Tara King says she is going to hold Hardeman to his promise to stop the dump.

"I truly hope the elected government will keep their promises of keeping the landfill out of Oxford County. Whatever the case I continue to fight shoulder to shoulder with you to make sure they keep their word."

King is planning on running again in the future.

Liberal candidate James Howard won't say if he plans to run again, but adds this election was a life changing experience for him.

"It has invigorated my sense of duty and my sense of civic virtue. I hope in this election we have encouraged more people to come out to vote to get engaged in the process and to educate themselves about the other parties and the candidates."

Howard placed third in the final tally with over 3,500 votes. King walked away with almost 16,000, but of course it was Hardeman who took the cake with just over 29,000.