Jamil Jivani has won the federal byelection in Durham, Ontario, with Liberal Party candidate Robert Rock coming well behind in second place.

The Durham byelection was needed to replace the seat previously occupied by former Conservative leader Erin O’Toole, who retired from federal politics in June 2023 after his party members removed him as leader. O’Toole fell out of favour with his party after he failed to show enough support for the Freedom Convoy — on top of losing the 2021 federal election.

All 225 polls are in, showing Jivani won 57.4% of the vote, compared to the Liberal candidate Rock with 22.5%.  That’s 18,610 votes for Jivani compared to 7,285 for Rock.

NDP candidate Chris Borgia won 10.4% of the vote, and the PPC candidate Patricia Conlin won 4.4%.  

Jivani’s 57% is a solid 10 points gain for the Conservatives, compared to the last election in the region when then-Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole took in 46%.

The Liberals dropped 7.5% from 2021, the NDP also fell 7%, and the PPC fell by 1%, down from their 5.5% in 2021.

32,401 voters had their say in the byelection, out of 116, 259 listed electors.

Jamil Jivani hits back at Trudeau’s controversial ‘Twofer’ remark

While addressing his party members on January 25, Prime Minister Just Trudeau called Jivani a ‘Twofer’, implying that he was both an ideologue and an insider. 

However, critics quickly dissected the term, drawing parallels to its use in the popular sitcom ’30 Rock’, where it referred to a character who was both a Harvard graduate and African American. 

Jivani, a Yale graduate and Black man, released a video on social media responding to Trudeau’s attack.

“I’m not exactly sure what [Twofer] means in reference to a human being,” he said.

Jivani’s video went viral, garnering over 750,000 views within twelve hours of posting it. In it, he shares his personal journey, including his struggles and achievements: from being considered illiterate in Grade 10, to earning a scholarship to Yale University, to beating stage four Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

Whether Trudeau’s use of ‘Twofer’ was intentionally derogatory, an ill-conceived attempt by a speechwriter to suggest Jivani was a diversity hire, or an unintended coincidence, the term’s effect and Jivani’s effective response could have backfired on the Liberals.