Belinda and Jim Karahalios were hoping for a better result on Thursday night.
But the couple from Cambridge, Ont., who started the conservative New Blue Party, say they’re not too upset about the Ontario election outcomes even though they didn’t win any seats.
“I feel quite energized, actually,” Belinda Karahalios told Cambridge Chronicle on Thursday night at a campaign event after the polls closed.
“We ran a really strong campaign. And the energy – I don’t know if you can feel it in the room – is very high, very positive. We had tons of volunteers, a lot of support at the door. And while the result was not what we wanted, it was still an amazing turnout.”
Belinda Karahalios, who was the sitting MPP for Cambridge and also leads the New Blue party as president, had hoped to keep her seat but came in fourth in that riding. Brian Riddell of the Progressive Conservatives won instead.
Jim Karahalios, leader of New Blue, ran nearby in Kitchener-Conestoga and ended up tied for fourth place there. The PC incumbent Mike Harris Jr. kept his seat.
Even with those results, Jim said he was “feeling great” on Thursday night.
“We made history today,” he said. “Today is Step 1 of the foundation of the future of the New Blue Party of Ontario.”
Strong showing but ‘not totally surprising’
The day after, Elections Ontario showed that New Blue got over 127,000 votes this election – about 2.72 per cent overall. A few polls were still being counted so those numbers might shift a bit.
This put them in fifth place by total votes received. The top party, Progressive Conservatives, had over 1.89 million votes.
Andrea Perrella, an associate professor of political science at Wilfrid Laurier University and director at their Institute for Public Opinion and Policy studies, called their vote count impressive.
“It’s not totally surprising because the New Blue Party is not, excuse the pun here, totally out of the blue,” he said.
New Blue Party supporters hold up signs for Cambridge candidate Belinda Karahalios and cheer for the couple at a post-election event. (Hala Ghonaim/CBC)
The party started with one MPP already holding office-Belinda Karahalios was elected as a Progressive Conservative back in 2018 but was kicked out of caucus in 2021 after voting against a government motion.
“If you already are an insider and you start a new party, there’s a good chance that you will draw a lot more voters than if you’re an entirely new party that no one has ever heard about. So it is impressive that they got that much, but it’s also not terribly surprising,” Perrella explained.
The big question now: What’s next?
“Is this really a new party or is it just disenchanted Progressive Conservatives who are forming their own party out of spite?”
Fans look ahead to next time
Dante Ognibene joined the New Blue post-election celebration and said this party’s values fit him better than others did.
“We’ve always known that it’s going to be difficult,” he said. “We need to focus on getting the message out there.”>
He blamed media coverage for being tough on them.>
“They want to silence us and we believe it’s not right. We want to defundthe establishment media,” he added.”So our goal now is about awarenessoftheparty, andlettingeverybodyknowwhatthepartystandsonandofitsvaluesanditsprinciples.”>
Chiyuki Williams shared she voted New Bluebecause they represented “good values that we, every singleoneofus , needto have. God-given freedom.”>
“I didn’t think New Bluewouldwinasaparty, but I thought Belindaand Jim [would] getin. Butsotheydidn’t. Itwas disappointing,”she said.>
“Wehave todo grassrootsandletthe peopleknowwhat New Bluedoes. Sothisisjustthefirstelectionand Ilookforwardtothenextone.” >
‘Keep engaging’
Jim Karahaliossaidthey plantospendthenext fouryearsbuilidingthe partyevenmore.>
‘We’regoingtokeepengagingwithourgrassrootsmembers , buildingourridingassociationsandgrowingoursupportersandourmembershipranksandgettingreadyforthenextelectioncampaignsothatwecankeeprunningcandidatesineverysingleridinginordertochallengethe establishment , balancethenarrativeandchangethecourse,’hesaid. >P eople gatheredatthe Argyle Armsin Cambridgetocelebratethe New Blue Party’slocalcandidates Thursdaynightafterthe Ontarioelection.(Hala Ghonaim/CBC)
Belindasaidsheplanstotake sometime torelaxaftera “verylong, busyfour years”servingas Cambridge’s MPP.
Butshedidthatthecouple , whohaveayoungson , willcontinuetoworktogethertobuildapartytheyfeelwelcomespeoplewhohavedifferingopinionsfromthe partiescurrentlyinpower.
Sheadded she’sthrilledtobeabletogrowthepartywithher husband.
“Itcanbesobusyandsotimeconsumingandjustliketaketookoveryourentirelife. Sothefactthatweareinit togethersortofmakesiteasier,”shesaid.”Itwaskindofwonderfultobeabletogothroughthatwithmyhusband together.”
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