A high-profile candidate will be carrying the Liberal banner into the Feb. 27 provincial election.
On Sunday, former Kingsville Deputy Mayor Tamara Stomp announced that she will be on the ballot to represent the residents of Essex County.
Stomp will go up against incumbent PC candidate Anthony Leardi, NDP candidate Rachael Mills, Green Party candidate Steve Higgins, Ontario Party candidate Travis Jacques, None of the Above candidate Kevin Linfield and independent candidate William Szabo Verzoc.
“Tamara has always put her community first and has built her career up for her community, tackling tough challenges and finding solutions that make a difference. I am thrilled to have this experienced leader on our team and I look forward to welcoming her to Queen’s Park,” said Ontario Liberal Leader Bonnie Crombie in a press release.
Heading into the election, the Ontario Liberals had nine of 124 seats in the legislature. Essex County was once a Liberal stronghold as the late Bruce Crozier was the MPP from 1993-2011.
Stomp, who has been a lawyer for over 40 years, was a member of Kingsville town council from 2003 to 2011. The last four years of her time on municipal council was as the deputy mayor in which she served on county council and the local Health Unit.
An advocate for local housing, she told the River Town Times early Monday morning that she continues to be a delegate at Kingsville town council meetings, addressing short-term rentals.
“I can transport this interest to the provincial level. As we see now, (PC Leader) Doug Ford has made building houses a top priority but doesn’t say what kind of housing.”
Stomp made a run at the Kingsville mayor’s spot in 2022 and came up short by 146 votes to Dennis Rogers. She has served on the Essex Region Conservation Authority (ERCA) and currently is the chair of the Friends of the John R. Park Homestead.
“It’s a good thing that I have name recognition and integrity.”
Asked what she feels to be the key issues in this election other than housing, she refers to the long wait to get a family physician and time spent waiting in emergency rooms needs to speed up to get rid of hallway health care.
“I think I have some experience, knowledge and skill to help and I’m energized about the issues.”
Stomp added that she has decided to take another run at politics, this time provincial, for the same reason she was on Kingsville council – she was angry at how things were.
With less than three weeks to campaign, candidates have a very small window of opportunity to get their name out to voters, Stomp says she will rely on media and meet-and-greets.
“I love it, “ she said of the short campaign. “It’s a challenge and I am always last minute but I always get it done.”
Stomp and the other Essex candidates will have a chance to go head-to-head on Feb. 19 at a debate hosted by the Windsor-Essex Chamber of Commerce.
Tamara Stomp to run locally for Liberals
By Fred Groves
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