Voters in Chatham-Kent-Leamington have returned Conservative Dave Epp to office for a third straight term.
CTV News has declared Epp as the winner in Chatham-Kent-Leamington.
Epp topped Liberal challenger Keith Pickard to keep the seat blue.
Epp has served as MP in the riding since he was first elected in 2019, winning the seat previously held by Dave van Kesteren -- also a Conservative.
Epp says it is a privilege to represent his constituents in Ottawa.
"That means first listening, continuing to listen, I hosted 108 pubic events in my first mandates, that is a commitment I make now and will continue to do, my staff will begin scheduling those in the very near future," he said.
Epp says the issues his constituents raised when door knocking during the campaign, are issues he's heard the past couple of years.
"Cost of living, cost of housing, cost of food. Food in Canada is 37 per cent higher priced than the U.S. the last five years, and obviously with a threat of tariffs from Trump, that has exacerbated those cost pressures on folks," Epp said.
The riding was held by the Liberals since its inception in 1988 until 2005 when Jerry Pickard was the MP. Ever since, the riding has become a Conservative stronghold.
The region’s agriculture sector is a key economic driver and faces the same uncertainty other sectors of the economy are up against in the face of trade war hostilities launched by the U.S.
There are 134,000 people in the riding according to Elections Canada 2021 census data, with just over 106,000 eligible electors.
The NDP’s Seamus Fleming, the Green’s James Plunkett, and PPC’s Trevor Lee also contested the seat.
-Reporting by CTV Windsor's Ricardo Veneza with editing by AM800's Dustin Coffman