Ontario Liberals have elected Steven Del Duca to lead them out of the political wilderness and back to the promised land of power.

Del Duca vanquished his five rivals Saturday in a first-ballot victory with almost 59 per cent of the vote.

For his efforts, he is now tasked with rebuilding a party that was trounced by Premier Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservatives in 2018, ending almost 15 years of Liberal rule.

The former cabinet minister, who lost his Vaughan seat when Ford nearly wiped out premier Kathleen Wynne’s Grits, won 1,258 of 2,140 eligible ballots cast at the delegated convention attended by more than 2,500 partisans.

“It took Doug Ford and his friends 15 years to win an election,” the 46-year-old married father of two daughters told the party faithful at Mississauga’s International Centre.

“We know they will not give up easily because for them, sadly, governing is a game,” said Del Duca, the first-generation Canadian son of a Scottish mother and an Italian father.

“They’ve made it clear that their power and their party is their only priority,” he said, warning “the attacks will be ugly, they will be personal, and they will not be honest.”

Indeed, at a Tory fundraiser Thursday night that was closed to the media, attendees said Ford likened Del Duca to a “gangster” and predicted a bruising battle with his new Liberal adversary.

Del Duca countered that “Doug Ford can remain focused on me and on us, but we will remain exclusively and relentlessly focused on the 15 million women and men who call our province home.”

Likening Ford to a “climate-change dinosaur” for scrapping Ontario’s carbon cap-and-trade environmental alliance with Quebec and California, the Liberal leader promised a greener future for the province.

“We need a premier who really accepts that climate change is a scientific fact,” said Del Duca, who also pledged to return peace to Ontario’s tumultuous education sector, which has been roiled by rotating teachers strikes for months.

But the new leader has his work cut out for him.

The Liberals hold just eight seats in the 124-member legislature — four shy of official party status — and still owe millions of dollars from the bruising last campaign.

Del Duca does not plan to seek a seat in the legislature before the next election unless Tory MP Michael Tibollo, who beat him in 2018 and is now a junior health minister, steps down in Vaughan.

Rival Liberal candidates all appealed for unity.

The Grits “suffered the worst defeat in our history and yet here we are — 3,000 Liberals from across the province, who believe in our future,” said MPP Michael Coteau (Don Valley East), who finished second in the leadership race with 363 votes, or 17 per cent.

“Our opponents should know by now, when things get tough for Liberals, we do what we do best: we come together, rethink, reorganize and reimagine. And we are just getting started,” he said.

Coteau, a former Wynne minister, said the sobering 2018 defeat and the party’s need for a comeback should “remind us of our ability to reimagine Ontario and bring people together.”

Third-place finisher Kate Graham, a former Liberal candidate who has emerged as a rising star in the party, received 299 votes or 14 per cent.

Graham, a Western University professor who is pregnant with her first child and joked about “wearing maternity tights” while delivering her speech, said the Liberals must appeal to a new generation that wants to move beyond partisanship.

“We’re here because we can’t afford to settle for less. We’re here because we have to prove we’re capable of giving people more,” she thundered.

“We have to do more than fundraise using fear. We have to restore trust.”

In the convention’s lightest moment, a beaming Graham belted out an impromptu rendition of ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me,” which delighted delegates.

MPP Mitzie Hunter (Scarborough-Guildwood) came fourth with 122 votes or 5.7 per cent, but delivered perhaps the most rousing speech of the day.

“All around us there’s polarization and a sense of division and, sadly, no force is more polarizing than the current Ontario government and its leader,” Hunter said in a slap at Ford.

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“The time for looking in the rear-view mirror has passed. I am laser-focused on the future. I am committed to leaving this convention as one member of a united Liberal team committed to leading Ontario to real change,” she said.

Alvin Tedjo, a former Liberal candidate who finished fifth with 74 votes, or 3.5 per cent, echoed that and urged the party to embrace his controversial proposal to eliminate publicly funded Catholic schools in favour of one secular system.

“We should never again be afraid to do the right thing,” said Tedjo.

Brenda Hollingsworth, an Ottawa lawyer new to politics, received 24 votes, or 1.1 per cent.

Hollingsworth said she took a chance because the party needed a fresh voice with her business and legal experience.

“I felt an urge to step out of my very comfortable life. People around me told me you’re making a big mistake, you’re not a politician … but my heart was simply not going to take no for an answer.”

Former premier Dalton McGuinty, who rebuilt the Liberals between 1996 and 2003 before winning three elections, well understands the challenges that Del Duca faces.

“He brings a lot of experience, but more than that, he brings capacity to grow,” said McGuinty, for whom Del Duca worked in opposition 20 years ago.

“I’ve known Steven for a long time and he’s humble enough to recognize that he’s a work in progress,” he said.

“I’m confident he’s going to surround himself with some really good people, some thoughtful people. I’m confident he’s going to listen carefully.”

But Del Duca’s critics were ready to pounce on his baggage, old and new.

Progressive Conservative government house leader Paul Calandra said the Liberal leader’s latest trouble — a backyard swimming pool too close to the lot line — is a serious issue that recalls his push as transportation minister to build the Kirby GO station in what was then his riding.

“Is there an arrogance that returns to the Liberal party with the election of Mr. Del Duca?” Calandra asked reporters after the new leader repeatedly ducked pool questions in a news conference.

“How, possibly, could he not know that it would be against the rules to build a swimming pool backing onto a conservation area?” said Calandra, who impishly distributed small inflatable pools to reporters covering the convention.

New Democrat MPP Taras Natyshak (Essex) said “electing Steven Del Duca as the leader of the Liberal party is bringing someone back from the past — and someone that represents a litany of failures on behalf of their government.”

Natyshak said it not only represents “a return to the old days,” but also “a tactical shift to the right” for the party.

“It opens up a large space for New Democrats and for progressives who are looking for a home,” he said.

Green Leader Mike Schreiner blasted the Liberals — who he said “lost the trust of Ontarians because of a string of scandals and backroom deals that put their political interests ahead of the people of Ontario” — for turning to a veteran of the McGuinty-Wynne era.

“I am not sure that someone associated with the old guard of Liberal establishment and embroiled in past controversies can deliver the leadership that Ontario needs,” Schreiner said.

Robert Benzie is the Star’s Queen’s Park bureau chief and a reporter covering Ontario politics. Follow him on Twitter: @robertbenzie

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