Lewis outcast after winning election after being knocked over by a horse

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Incumbent Conservative MP Chris Lewis claimed victory in his Essex on Monday, but was unable to fully enjoy his triumph after injuring himself when he was thrown from his horse earlier in the day.

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In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Lewis reported that he had gone to the hospital with “scrapes and bruises on his face and was in significant pain.”

“Yesterday afternoon, while waiting for the election result, I decided to take a break and go for a horseback ride with my wife, Allison, who needless to say, I have hardly seen each other in the last 36 days,” Lewis wrote.

“Unfortunately my horse got nervous, shook and I was thrown. It was not the moment of relaxation with Allison that I was hoping for, and of course the moment could not have been worse.

“I still don’t know the extent of my injuries. I’m in the hospital for a full evaluation.

“As soon as I can, I will be available to discuss the results and my priorities for Essex.”

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Monday’s crash could not detract from an impressive victory that saw him garner 27,688 votes to overtake Tracey Ramsey of the NDP by 6,260 votes.

It was a rematch of the 2019 career when Lewis surprised then-incumbent Ramsey by 4,776 votes.

“I’m a bit shocked by that (size of the win) given that he really wasn’t open to the media and pulled out of the debates,” said Lydia Miljan, a professor of political science at the University of Windsor.

“He chose to focus on his ground game and it was obviously a very good strategy.”

Miljan said the strength of Lewis’s team at the grassroots level was particularly notable in the final weeks of the season.

“They certainly came to your door,” said Miljan, who lives in horseback riding. “Lewis got a lot more phone calls and robocalls. They were much more aggressive at that.

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“For the last weekend, every day Lewis had something on the phone. I didn’t realize that the NDP was so aggressive at the end of the campaign. “

Ramsey said this year’s campaign focused heavily on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

She felt that the motivation not to cast a vote that would benefit Trudeau was a major factor in driving.

“The anti-Trudeau sentiment in Essex was clear,” said Ramsey, who received 21,428 votes.

“National polls played a role in the decision-making of people who thought conservatives were the alternative to support Trudeau.

“Essex is traveling where people will often vote more for what they don’t want than what they do want.”

Ramsey added that the People’s Party of Canada was also more of a wild card than it was in the 2019 race.

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PPC candidate Beth Charron-Rowberry got 10 percent of the vote (6,773 votes) compared to 1,231 votes the party got last time.

However, the expectation that the Conservatives would be the most vulnerable to losing votes to the PPC did not develop in Essex.

“We lost votes for that game,” Ramsey said. “The PPC vote came from different groups of people who were dissatisfied with Trudeau.

“People opposed vaccines and certain health mandates were also drawn to the PPC.

“People were divided throughout the country. There is a lot of work to be done in Essex and the rest of the country. “

Liberal candidate Audrey Festeryga finished third with 10,480 votes, while Green Party’s Nancy Pancheshan got 839, Christian Heritage Party’s Jeremy Palko got 180 and independent Andrew George 168.

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The Conservatives have now won six of the last seven federal elections in Essex.

“I don’t think a message was sent in this election,” Miljan said. “The balance of power has not changed.

“There were some changes of seats, but when you look at the electoral map, nothing has changed much. The public is angry and frustrated.

“We have the same players and I don’t see anything different than what we have seen in the last 18 months. So it seems like a useless exercise. “

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