Incumbent MPP Anthony Leardi is returning to Queen's Park after winning the Riding of Essex again.
The Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario MPP was declared the winner in Essex, beating seven other candidates on Thursday night.
Tamara Stomp of the Liberal Party of Ontario, Rachael Mills of the New Democratic Party of Ontario, Kevin Linfield representing the None of the Above Direct Democracy Party, Stephen Higgins representing the Green Party of Ontario, Independent William Szabo Verzoc, Travis Jacques of The Ontario Party, and Brigette Belton of the New Blue Party also ran.
The former Deputy Mayor of Amherstburg won his second term as a Member of Provincial Parliament.
Leardi said he mostly credits the leadership of Doug Ford over the years for his big win in Essex and gives his own proven political track record a little credit for the wide margin over his opponents.
"I'm very happy that we've won another majority government. I'm very happy that Doug Ford has received a strong mandate from the people of Ontario. We're going to protect Ontario workers, we're going to protect Ontario businesses, we're going to deal with this threat of tariffs, and we're going to come out strong," said Leardi.
Leardi also noted protecting jobs and continuing to enhance skilled trades will be his top priorities when he returns to the Legislature.
"I'm going to continue supporting the leader's focus on increasing the number of skilled tradespeople, not only across the province, but here particularly in Essex County," Leardi said.
Leardi also believes that large provincial government investments in manufacturing resonated with voters at the door in the Riding of Essex.
"I think that people strongly recognize that we've made a big difference in the manufacturing sector. You know the numbers, it's $45 billion worth of manufacturing investment in Ontario since Doug Ford became premier," he said.
Unofficial election results from Elections Ontario showed that Leardi beat his closest opponent, Rachael Mills of the New Democratic Party of Ontario, by 18,738 votes and got 55.46 per cent of the vote in the riding.
Total voter turnout in the Riding of Essex was 50.88 per cent of the 109,089 registered voters.
