# Essex (provincial electoral district)

Essex is a provincial electoral district in southwestern, Ontario, Canada. It elects one member to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.
It existed from 1867 to 1874 and was re-created in 1999 from Essex South, Essex—Kent and Windsor—Sandwich.
When the riding was recreated, it included all of Essex County except for Windsor, Old Tecumseh, St. Clair Beach, Leamington and Mersea Township.
In 2007, it lost the parts of Tecumseh that had since been amalgamated (South Sandwich Township).

## Member of Provincial Parliament

This riding has elected the following members of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario:
Essex :
| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| 1st | 1867–1871 | Solomon Wigle | Conservative |
| 2nd | 1871–1874 | Albert Prince | Liberal |
| Riding dissolved into Essex North and Essex South |||||
| Riding re-created from Essex South, Essex—Kent and Windsor—Sandwich |||||
| 37th | 1999–2003 | Bruce Crozier | Liberal |
| 38th | 2003–2007 | Bruce Crozier | Liberal |
| 39th | 2007–2011 | Bruce Crozier | Liberal |
| 40th | 2011–2014 | Taras Natyshak | New Democratic |
| 41st | 2014–2018 | Taras Natyshak | New Democratic |
| 42nd | 2018–2022 | Taras Natyshak | New Democratic |
| 43rd | 2022–present | Anthony Leardi | Progressive Conservative |

## Election results
### 1999-present

vte2025 Ontario general election :
| ** Preliminary results — Not yet official ** |||||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Progressive Conservative | Anthony Leardi | 30,785 | 55.5 | +4.4 |
| | New Democratic | Rachael Mills | 12,047 | 21.7 | –6.6 |
| | Liberal | Tamara Stomp | 8,707 | 15.7 | +7.1 |
| | Green | Steve Higgins | 1,282 | 2.3 | +0.3 |
| | Ontario Party | Travis Jacques | 1,131 | 2.0 | –4.8 |
| | New Blue | Brigitte Belton | 882 | 1.6 | –1.1 |
| | None of the Above | Kevin Linfield | 469 | 0.8 | +0.2 |
| | Independent | William Szabo Verzoc | 204 | 0.4 | N/A |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | |
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | 50.9 | +3.7 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 109,089 |
| | Progressive Conservative hold | Progressive Conservative hold | Swing | Swing | +5.5 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
vte2022 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | Progressive Conservative | Anthony Leardi | 24,926 | 51.10 | +8.12 | $56,154 |
| | New Democratic | Ron Leclair | 13,793 | 28.28 | −19.67 | $99,831 |
| | Liberal | Manpreet Brar | 4,186 | 8.58 | +3.03 | $44,182 |
| | Ontario Party | Frank Causarano | 3,322 | 6.81 | | $0 |
| | New Blue | Danielle Sylvester | 1,293 | 2.65 | | $8,086 |
| | Green | Nicholas Wendler | 989 | 2.03 | −1.50 | $0 |
| | None of the Above | Kevin Linfield | 271 | 0.56 | | $283 |
| Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | Total valid votes/expense limit | 48,780 | 99.50 | +0.16 | $145,387 |
| Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked, and declined ballots | 245 | 0.50 | -0.16 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 49,025 | 47.21 | -8.91 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 101,723 |
| | Progressive Conservative gain from New Democratic | Progressive Conservative gain from New Democratic | Swing | Swing | +13.90 |
| Source(s) "Summary of Valid Votes Cast for Each Candidate" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-18."Statistical Summary by Electoral District" (PDF). Elections Ontario. 2022. Archived from the original on 2023-05-21. |||||||
2018 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | New Democratic | Taras Natyshak | 26,134 | 47.95 | -12.36 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Chris Lewis | 23,423 | 42.98 | +21.20 |
| | Liberal | Kate Festeryga | 3,026 | 5.55 | -8.78 |
| | Green | Nancy Pancheshan | 1,920 | 3.52 | -0.06 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 54,503 | 99.34 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 363 | 0.66 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 54,866 | 56.12 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 97,773 |
| | New Democratic hold | New Democratic hold | Swing | Swing | -16.78 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
2014 general election redistributed results :
| Party | Vote | % |
| New Democratic | 26,807 | 60.31 |
| Progressive Conservative | 9,677 | 21.77 |
| Liberal | 6,369 | 14.33 |
| Green | 1,593 | 3.58 |
2014 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | New Democratic | Taras Natyshak | 28,118 | 60.34 | +22.35 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Ray Cecile | 10,169 | 21.82 | -13.19 |
| | Liberal | Crystal Meloche | 6,628 | 14.22 | -10.90 |
| | Green | Mark Vercouteren | 1,685 | 3.62 | +1.74 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 46,600 | 100.0 |
| | New Democratic hold | New Democratic hold | Swing | Swing | +17.77 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
2011 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | New Democratic | Taras Natyshak | 17,417 | 37.99 | +17.22 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Dave Brister | 16,049 | 35.01 | +10.00 |
| | Liberal | Ken Schmidt | 11,518 | 25.12 | -22.90 |
| | Green | Jason Matyi | 860 | 1.88 | -3.46 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 45,844 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots | 168 | 0.37 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 46,012 | 51.38 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 89,549 |
| | New Democratic gain from Liberal | New Democratic gain from Liberal | Swing | Swing | +3.61 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
2007 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bruce Crozier | 19,969 | 48.02 | +2.74 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Richard Kniaziew | 10,400 | 25.01 | +0.27 |
| | New Democratic | John Grima | 8,638 | 20.77 | -7.01 |
| | Green | Jessica Fracassi | 2,220 | 5.34 | +3.14 |
| | Libertarian | Aaron Parent | 358 | 0.86 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 41,585 | 100.00 |
2003 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Bruce Crozier | 20,559 | 45.28 | -11.45 |
| | New Democratic | Pat Hayes | 12,614 | 27.78 | +19.43 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Patrick O'Neil | 11,234 | 24.74 | -9.49 |
| | Green | Darren J. Brown | 998 | 2.20 | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 45,405 | 100.00 |
1999 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Bruce Crozier | 25,446 | 56.73 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Pat O'Neil | 15,354 | 34.23 |
| | New Democratic | Merv Richards | 3,745 | 8.35 |
| | Independent | Enver Villamizar | 307 | 0.68 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 44,852 | 100.00 |

### 1867-1871

vte1871 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% |
| | Liberal | Albert Prince | 1,204 | 51.23 | +4.92 |
| | Conservative | Solomon Wigle | 786 | 33.45 | −20.24 |
| | Independent | Mr. Rankin | 360 | 15.32 | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 2,350 | 50.95 | −24.46 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 4,612 |
| | Liberal gain from Conservative | Liberal gain from Conservative | Swing | Swing | +12.58 |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||
vte1867 Ontario general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Conservative | Solomon Wigle | 1,566 | 53.69 |
| | Liberal | A. Cameron | 1,351 | 46.31 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 2,917 | 75.41 |
| Eligible voters | Eligible voters | Eligible voters | 3,868 |
| | Conservative pickup new district. | Conservative pickup new district. | Conservative pickup new district. | Conservative pickup new district. | Conservative pickup new district. | Conservative pickup new district. | Conservative pickup new district. |
| Source: Elections Ontario |||||||

## 2007 electoral reform referendum

2007 Ontario electoral reform referendum :
| Side | Votes | % |
| First Past the Post | 27,130 | 67 |
| Mixed member proportional | 13,384 | 33 |
| Total valid votes | 40,514 | 100.0 |