Voters in Kitchener-Conestoga have returned Liberal Tim Louis to office for another term. As of 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, Louis was declared as the winner in the Kitchener-Conestoga riding. “I’m humbled and excited at the chance to represent the people of Kitchener-Conestoga again,” Louis told CTV News during an interview Tuesday. Louis topped Conservative challenger Doug Treleaven by 522 votes with 30,006 (48.3 per cent) of 62,097 votes. Doug Treleavan, of the Conservatives, trailed behind with 29,484 votes (47.5 per cent). Meantime, Maya Bozorgzad, of the New Democratic Party, was in third with 1,821 votes (2.9 per cent). Louis has served as MP since 2019. According to Elections Canada, 24,855 voters cast ballots at advance polls in Kitchener-Conestoga. The results of the Kitchener-Conestoga riding come after a long delay due to the time required to process and verify all ballots, including mail-in and special ballots. Louis and Treleavan took turns at the top spot throughout the night as the polls were being counted. “I haven’t slept much...it was a long night,” Louis said. “This is the fourth time I’ve run and third time I’ve won and every margin has been within a few votes each time.” Simon Kiss, a political science professor at Wilfrid Laurier University, said Kitchener-Conestoga is a swing riding because it consists of a mix of urban and rural areas. “So with the Liberals doing better in urban areas and the Conservatives doing better in rural areas and suburban areas, [it’s] the swing areas,” Kiss said. “I kind of have to have a foot in each of those two worlds which is something that I take seriously because now we have a lot of the same challenges, also just a different lens on the solution,” Louis said. He said the issues he’s been hearing about the most are concerns about tariffs and the affordability crisis. “As we chance channels and focus on going back to Ottawa, I’ll make sure their voices are heard,” Louis said.
