Oxford remains Conservative, as candidates reflect on contentious race

After a contentious battle on the campaign trail, voters in the southwestern Ontario riding of Oxford have opted to stick with the blue brand.

Conservative Arpan Khanna has been voted in as the next MP for the riding, edging out Liberal David Hilderley.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve moved in, you’ve been here for one day, if you’ve been here for generations, all is welcome here in Oxford,” he told his supporters at his campaign party in Woodstock Tuesday evening.

The statement may have been a reference to what some see as Khanna being parachuted into the riding by Conservative Party leadership.

From Brampton, Khanna was selected over local contenders. It led to blood being spilled within local party ranks, and riding officials walking out.

Arpan Khanna is seen with supporters in Oxford on June 19, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London)

It also led to Dave MacKenzie throwing his support behind Liberal David Hilderley.

The Conservative MP for Oxford for nearly two decades, MacKenzie stepped down from the post in January.

“I was disappointed he sided with Justin Trudeau, after fighting for 19 years to have that change of heart,” said Khanna, of MacKenzie’s split with the party. “Justin Trudeau has been attacking Oxford residents and their values for the last eight years, so to see that was very disappointing. But I wish him all the best, and I want to thank him for his service.”

Khanna finished with 16,144 of the 37,528 votes cast, or 43 per cent of the vote.

On Tuesday, meantime, David Hilderley could be found cleaning out his Woodstock campaign office.

He reflected on the race, and said he was proud of the gains his party made in the Conservative stronghold.

“We have gone from 20 per cent to 36 per cent, and our campaign was well run,” he said. “It was thoughtfully done, it was a clean campaign, and because of that consistency and the message of voting local, I think those were the gains that we made.”

Liberal candidate David Hilderley is seen cleaning out his campaign office in Woodstock, Ont. on June 20, 2023. (Bryan Bicknell/CTV News London) Hilderley finished with 13,574 votes, or 36 per cent of the votes cast.

In the third position was Cody Groat, who garnered 3,931 votes, or ten per cent of the ballots cast.

He was not available to speak with CTV News Tuesday, as he was embarking on his honeymoon.

Groat did issue a statement which read in part, “we should all be concerned about the level of apathy and disenfranchisement” reflected in the voter turnout of just 38 per cent. 

In the other byelections, Liberal Anna Gainey won in Marc Garneau's former riding of Notre-Dame-De-Grace-Westmount, Liberal Ben Carr took 55.5 per cent of the vote in Winnipeg South Centre and Conservative Branden Leslie won in Portage-Lisgar.

— With files from CTV News London's Kristylee Varley