The first question I was asked after losing my 2018 bid for a seat in the Ontario legislature was whether I would give it another go in 2022.
I answered the question honestly.
“I have no idea. I didn’t even know I was going to be running this time,” I said.
The stars had aligned in my life and in Ontario politics, making the decision to stand for office a surprisingly easy one.
Having covered, as a broadcaster, Ontario’s economic decline, I was honoured to have the opportunity to champion the conservative vision the province needed at thousands of London West doorsteps, even if my journey ended there and not at Queen’s Park.
This experience seems like only yesterday, although next year, Ontarians will go to the polls once again. This means ridings across the province are gearing up, and it also means I’ve started to field a great many questions like that one I got on that evening of June 7, 2018.
To prove I’m no longer a politician, I’ll answer it directly: I will not be running in the next election.
I am in a different place in my life now than I was when I made the decision to run nearly three years ago. My long-time radio show had just been cancelled, and I hadn’t yet answered the question of “What next?”. Since losing, I have groomed a path that is both personally and professionally enriching, and one from which I am not interested in walking away.
I remain grateful to the people to voted, donated and volunteered for me in 2018, though I am also immensely grateful I was unsuccessful in my bid.
I will still fight for the freedoms and values that drove me to politics, but from my keyboard and microphone.
On a side note, does anyone know what I can do with 1,500 Andrew Lawton lawn signs?