NDP, Liberals prevent PC sweep in Durham Region [Video]

Ontario Finance Minister Peter Bethlenfalvy was re-elected in Pickering-Uxbridge

Eleven years after Jennifer French won her first provincial election seat in Oshawa, toppling incumbent PC incumbent Jerry Ouelette by nearly 7,800 votes, history has repeated itself with French fending off a challenge from Ouelette to hold on to the riding for the NDP, winning by 1,925 votes.

French finally has some non-Conservative company in Durham as well, with former school board executive Rob Cerjanec pulling off a mild upset in Ajax, defeating PC incumbent Patrice Barnes by a narrow 331 votes to return the seat for the Liberals for the first time since Joe Dickson (1940-2022) lost the 2018 election.

When Dickson and fellow Liberal Granville Anderson (Durham) were dethroned in 2018, French became the only non-blue MPP in the region.

The challenge to earn a fourth victory in Oshawa wasn’t easy, but French continued to add to what …