Lewis sidelined after being thrown off horse

Incumbent Conservative MP Chris Lewis cruised to victory in his Essex riding Monday, but he didn't get to fully enjoy his triumph after getting injured when he was thrown from his horse earlier in the day.

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

“Yesterday afternoon, while waiting for the election outcome, I decided to take a break and go for a horseback ride with my wife, Allison, who needless to say, I have barely seen for the last 36 days,” Lewis wrote. “Unfortunately, my horse got skittish, bucked and I was thrown off. It was not the relaxing time with Allison I was hoping for and, of course, the timing could not have been worse. I do not yet know the extent of my injuries. I am at the hospital for a full assessment.

“As soon as I am able, I will make myself available to talk about the results and about my priorities for Essex.”

Monday's incident couldn't take the shine off an impressive win that saw him garner 27,688 votes to best the NDP'S Tracey Ramsey by 6,260 votes.

It was a rematch of the 2019 race when Lewis upset the then incumbent Ramsey by 4,776 votes.

“I'm a little surprised by that (size of the win) given he really wasn't open to the media and he pulled out of the debates,” said University of Windsor political science professor Lydia Miljan. “He chose to focus on his ground game and that was obviously a very good strategy.”

Miljan said the strength of Lewis's team at the grassroots level was particularly noticeable in the campaign's last couple of weeks.

“They certainly came to your door,” said Miljan, who lives in the riding. “Lewis had far more phone calls and robocalls. They were much more aggressive in that. Over the last weekend everyday Lewis had something out by phone. I didn't notice the NDP was nearly as aggressive at the end of the campaign.”

Ramsey said this year's campaign had a heavy focus on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

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

“Anti-trudeau sentiment in Essex was clear,” said Ramsey, who received 21,428 votes. “The national polls played a role in making a decision in people thinking the Conservatives were the alternative to supporting Trudeau. Essex is riding where people will often vote more on what they don't want versus what they do want.”

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

PPC candidate Beth Charron-rowberry pulled 10 per cent of the vote (6,773 votes) compared to the 1,231 votes the party drew last time.

However, the expectation that it was the Conservatives who were most vulnerable to losing votes to the PPC didn't play out in Essex.

“We lost votes to that party,” Ramsey said. “The PPC vote came from different groups of people who were feeling dissatisfied with Trudeau. People were opposed to vaccines and certain health-care mandates were also drawn to the PPC. People were divided across the country. There's a lot of work to be done in Essex and the rest of the country.”