Doug Ford reelected as Ontario premier with majority government, CTV News declares

Doug Ford will be re-elected as premier of Ontario with a majority government, CTV News declares.

Polls closed across the province at 9 p.m. on Thursday and shortly after CTV News declared the Progressive Conservative leader the winner of the 2022 election.

CTV News has also declared the Ontario New Democratic Party, led by Andrea Horwath, as the Official Opposition.

Ford has been the frontrunner of the election for months, leading in nearly every poll in both general party support and top choice for premier.

The 57-year-old first dove into provincial politics in 2018 after serving eight years as a city councillor in Toronto. In his first election,

Despite his many years of public service, Ford tends to brand himself moreso as a businessman and builder—someone who says “yes” to projects and promises to “get it done.”

In 2018, he promised that under his leadership Ontario would be “open for business” and that he would usher in an era of “economic growth and prosperity.”

This time around, he focused on the building of new infrastructure such as Highway 413 and the Bradford Bypass, in addition to new hospitals and long-term care.

Ford’s success comes from his ability to portray himself as accessible and understanding of the plights of the working class. His early promises were all about affordability—such as the licence plate renewal fee rebate, which saved families abut $120 a year and the six-month gas and fuel tax cut—pledges that were meant to put money back into the pockets of Ontarians.

He was able to win a number of high-profile endorsements from municipal and union leaders in the process.The popularity afforded to Ford fluctuated greatly over the last four years. In the beginning of his first term in office, the PC leader made substantial cuts to multiple ministries, including healthcare and the environment.

But when the pandemic hit in March 2020, Ford was able to establish himself as a level-headed leader, using daily news conferences as a means to inform the public and make multiple policy announcements.

Ford has admitted that the pandemic was one of his most trying times as a politician; and while the Liberals and Ontario NDP have often criticized the PCs for their decisions surrounding the lifting of mandates and the handling of long-term care outbreaks, it doesn’t seem to have made that much of a difference in terms of voter support.