The NDP’s Marshall Buchanan made a big impression on the riding despite its declining support for his party, having gone from winning 31 seats with nearly 24 percent of votes to 27 seats with 18 percent. He is pictured with his son Linden and wife, Kathleen.

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Eganville – To say the past month has been a wild ride for New Democratic Party (NDP) candidate Marshall Buchanan would be an extreme understatement.

After weeks of door knocking, countless important phone calls and setting regular life aside more often than not, the self-employed farmer from Scotch Bush laid it all on the line in the weeks leading up to the recent provincial election.

Though his bid for a seat in the provincial legislature was ultimately unsuccessful, he received just over 6,600 votes or nearly 15 percent of the total as of election night on Feb. 27. Despite the results continuing to reflect the riding’s preference for the PC Party, Mr. Buchanan hopes his third-place finish has brought attention to critical issues affecting the county and set a precedent for the future of politics.

“I’m a little disappointed,” he admitted after seeing the results on Thursday night.

Mr. Buchanan joined the Ontario NDP team at the end of January, having met leader Marit Stiles during a visit to his farm in 2024. His announcement to run as the next MPP was well-received, with many eager to stand behind him and the rural perspective he looked to add to the position. He started this year’s election strong, with his campaign team being humbler than most. The tiny but tenacious group featured his wife Kathleen, son Linden, and Manager Dez Bair-Patel.

While it was his first time canvassing, it certainly wasn’t his first go at using leadership skills. His qualifications include acting as the President of Local 330 National Farmers Union since 2018 and former President of the Ottawa Valley Food Cooperative, among other volunteering. His top priority was bridging the urban-rural divide in the provincial legislature and looking to be the voice of rural Ontario in the cabinet.

Even after coming away from the election last Thursday with a loss, Mr. Buchanan is still proud of the weeks of late nights, hard work and pouring out his heart for the community. He shared his roller coaster of experiences on the campaign trail with the Leader, beginning with his immense gratitude for the support he received throughout.

Mr. Buchanan thought it was surprising to see people be so outwardly expressive in their support and stick out their necks for him politically instead of hiding their feelings. He said of everyone he spoke with, he felt all his advocates were voting for him from the bottom of their hearts.

“The residents I spoke to told me they were voting for me with such conviction that they were praying for me,” he said. “I was really touched by that. It did bring me to tears sometimes to see that amount of confidence.

“Even during the campaign, people were popping up on Facebook making a personal point of vouching for me, relating anecdotes about how they know me, how trustworthy I am and how much I care about people,” he continued. “I’ve never experienced that type of thing before.”

While he said the experience was usually pleasantly surprising, it was still politics at the end of the day. Mr. Buchanan often had no idea what to expect when meeting someone at their door and got used to waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“There were literally scowls,” he said. “When I was knocking on doors, they were like ‘Oh no, you’re not a conservative-minded candidate.’ And that’s okay, but what disappointed me the most was when people didn’t even want to discuss what their voting options were.

“It was discouraging that the idea of talking to them about the election made them look at me like I had COVID or something,” he continued.

Mr. Buchanan said he woke up one day and realized he shouldn’t be ashamed of standing up for his beliefs. He changed his mindset and started looking to the positives of having taken the opportunity to stand up for what he believes in.

Candidate Comraderie

Not long after the election results revealed the PC Party’s runaway win to secure a majority government, Mr. Buchanan took a call from another candidate he typically went head-to-head with at debates. Liberal Party Candidate Oliver Jacob had phoned to commend him for his courage, saying they ran a great campaign, especially for their first time.

“We exchanged our respect for each other,” Mr. Buchanan explained. “We worked hard to provide a courageous alternative to what Doug Ford was offering the riding.”

The pair had spent significant time together over the past month and even had a televised debate between the two moderated by Renfrew County Warden Peter Emon. Mr. Buchanan said people approached them after the debates to show appreciation for focusing on the questions instead of running another politician down.

“We saw a lot of each other. What I like about Oliver is he sticks to the issues. We’re both interested in fighting for the riding and what people need, not character assassination, right?”