Aurora stays blue following February 127 Provincial election

March 6, 2025 · 0 Comments

Aurora’s Provincial ridings stayed Blue last week as they re-elected incumbent Progressive Conservatives Dawn Gallagher Murphy and Michael Parsa back to Queen’s Park on February 27.

“We’re just getting started!” Newmarket-Aurora MPP-elect Gallagher Murphy told supporters at her victory party held at Wicked Eats on Thursday night.

First elected in 2022, Gallagher Murphy topped the poll with 20,780 votes – or 47.43 per cent of the ballots. Coming in second, with 18,355 votes, was former provincial cabinet minister and Aurora councillor Chris Ballard, with Denis Heng of the Ontario NDP earning 2,754 votes, or 6.29 per cent of the ballots.

Rounding out the results were Green Party candidate David Jakubiek with 1,096 votes, New Blue candidate Shirin Khasbakhi with 536 votes, and Ontario Moderate Party candidate Yuri Duboisky with 287 votes.

Voter turnout in Aurora’s north riding was 44.66 per cent, a slight increase from the 2022 Provincial election when 44.42 per cent of eligible voters cast their ballots.

“The people in this riding have put their trust in me once again. I take that responsibility seriously,” said Gallagher Murphy. “Whether it is right here in Newmarket-Aurora or at Queen’s Park, I will continue to work tirelessly to make sure your voices are heard. We have so much more to accomplish together – more jobs to create, more homes to build, and more opportunities to secure for the next generation.

“Under Doug Ford’s leadership, our PC team will protect Ontario. From the bottom of my heart, thank you Newmarket-Aurora; let’s get back to work and keep building our community together.”

A similar story unfolded in Aurora’s southern riding, Aurora-Oak Ridges-Richmond Hill, where incumbent PC Michael Parsa was awarded a third term from voters.

Parsa secured 19,532 votes – or 57.21 per cent of the total vote share. Coming in second, with 11,568 votes – or 33.88 per cent of the votes – was Ontario Liberal candidate Jason Cherniak, with NDP candidate Naila Saeed coming in third with 1,907 votes, or 5.59 per cent.

Rounding out the ballot were Ikram Khan of the Green Party of Ontario with 594 votes and Rosaria Wiseman of the New Blue party slightly behind with 542 votes.

37.81 per cent of eligible voters turned out at the polls this time around, down from 38.19 per cent in 2022.

Gathered at Chef Reza Persian Grill in Oak Ridges, Parsa told supporters it was an honour to represent the residents considering what the next four years might bring, given looming Trump Tariffs.

“We have four years and…we wanted to make something clear to everyone, not just to the people of Ontario, but to people outside our border: we did not pick any of this. The challenges that are coming towards us was started elsewhere.”

When Premier-elect Doug Ford called a snap election last month, he said he not only wanted to secure for his Progressive Conservative government a renewed mandate from Ontarians, but a stronger one to best position Ontario in the fight against tariffs.

In this goal, Ford was only partially successful.

Going into the election, the PCs held 79 seats, down from the 83 they earned in the 2022 election. They return to Queen’s Park with 80 seats.

The New Democrats and leader Marit Stiles remain the official opposition, with 27 seats, down from the 28 they had going into the election.

The Ontario Liberals, under the leadership of former Mississauga mayor Bonnie Crombie, gained five seats this time around, for a total of 14, but Crombie fell short in securing her own riding. Crombie announced following the election she intends to remain party leader.

Meanwhile, Ontario Green Party and leader Mike Schreiner went into the election with two seats, and returned with two seats.

By Brock Weir