No matter who won the riding, a new face representing Kitchener Centre at Queen’s Park was a foregone conclusion.
Incumbent MPP John Milloy, who had held the riding since 2003, announced earlier this year that he would leave provincial politics as of the next election.
In the end, it was Daiene Vernile – as the Liberal candidate, the one most directly attempting to appeal to Milloy voters – who emerged triumphant over PC candidate Wayne Wettlaufer and NDP challenger Margaret Johnston.
Speaking to CTV News later in the evening, Vernile said she wasn't surprised by the result given it echoed what she had heard from voters during the campaign.
“What they were telling me was that they wanted things to be more progressive and more positive," she said.
Vernile, a former broadcaster, looked to continue the riding’s string of Liberal victories against Wettlaufer – the man who won the Kitchener riding in 1995 and the then-new Kitchener Centre in 1999, losing to Milloy in 2013 – and Johnston, an elected trustee with the Waterloo Region District School Board.
Final results
Daiene Vernile (Liberal)– 18,459 (43.1%)
Wayne Wettlaufer (Progressive Conservative)– 11,546 (27%)
Margaret Johnston (New Democrat) – 9,761 (22.8%)
Ronnie Smith (Green)– 2,462 (5.8%)
Patrick Bernier (Libertarian) – 557 (1.3%)
