Essex

Essex is a sprawling southwestern Ontario riding that wraps around the southern and eastern edges of the City of Windsor, encompassing a mix of agricultural communities, small towns, and suburban areas along the Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair shorelines. The riding includes the towns of Amherstburg, Essex, Kingsville, LaSalle, Lakeshore, and Leamington, as well as Pelee Island, Canada's southernmost inhabited point. Conservatives have held the seat since 2006 with only a brief NDP interruption from 2015 to 2019, and incumbent Chris Lewis sought a third consecutive term in 2025.

Candidates

Chris Lewis (Conservative)* is the incumbent, first elected in 2019 and re-elected in 2021. Born in 1976 and raised in Kingsville, Lewis is a former firefighter and small business owner with deep roots in Essex County. He chaired the Master Fire Planning Committee and has been involved in local government and community organizations for years. An avid hockey coach, he played a key role in bringing Kraft Hockeyville to Kingsville in 2008. In Parliament, he has served as the Conservative shadow minister for Labour and co-chair of the Conservative auto caucus.

Chris Sutton (Liberal) is a Canadian Armed Forces veteran, farm owner, and director of public affairs for the Millwright Regional Council, where he represents 10,000 millwrights across Canada. A millwright by trade for over 30 years, Sutton has worked across multiple industries and campaigned on jobs, childcare, and trade policy.

Lori Wightman (NDP) was born in River Canard and lives in Amherstburg, where she works as a library worker. She held leadership positions in her CUPE union local for 13 years and led the 2016 Essex County Library Workers strike, which lasted eight months. She campaigned on affordable housing and job security in the face of US tariffs.

Jason A. E. Henry (People's Party - PPC) also stood as a candidate in the riding.

About the Riding

Essex is defined by agriculture, automotive manufacturing, and its proximity to the United States border. The riding's greenhouse industry--concentrated around Leamington and Kingsville--is one of the largest in North America, producing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and cannabis in vast glass-covered operations that have earned Leamington the nickname "Tomato Capital of Canada." Field crops, livestock, and the Lake Erie commercial fishery round out the agricultural sector. Amherstburg and LaSalle, closer to Windsor, function partly as suburban bedroom communities.

The riding's relationship with the United States is central to its identity. The Gordie Howe International Bridge, under construction during recent election cycles, promised to reshape cross-border trade flows. Automotive parts manufacturing, tied to the Detroit-Windsor corridor's integrated supply chain, employs thousands across the region.

In 2025, US tariffs and trade uncertainty dominated the campaign in a riding acutely exposed to cross-border disruption. Agricultural exporters--greenhouse growers, grain farmers, and livestock producers--faced potential market access problems, while automotive parts manufacturers worried about supply chain upheaval. Leo Guilbeault, president of the Essex County Federation of Agriculture, pressed candidates on declining government support for farmers. Healthcare access and affordability were also prominent issues, particularly in the riding's smaller communities. Windsor-Essex emerged as a focal point of the national campaign because of its economic ties to the American market.