GRIMSBY — When you live with your parents and run for office, some people are going to call you "the kid."

Just old enough for a tipple at wineries dotting the Progressive Conservative stronghold of Niagara West-Glanbrook, Sam Oosterhoff, 19, could become Ontario's youngest-ever MPP in Thursday's byelection.

The home-schooled, anti-abortion, proudly churchgoing critic of Premier Kathleen Wynne's updated sex education curriculum is an unexpected twist in the race to replace Tim Hudak, who left Queen's Park in September.

Even diehard Conservatives flag the youthfulness of their new candidate, who wasn't yet born when Hudak was first elected in 1995 at the age of 27.

"I'm concerned about his age," said Don Miller, a retiree who works Mondays at a stylish men's shop on Main St. and still harbours misgivings about Hudak's lack of real-world experience before politics.

"But I can't vote Liberal."

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Rivals target Oosterhoff's age and social conservative beliefs in hopes of discouraging loyal Tory voters — and making life difficult for PC Leader Patrick Brown after his recent flip-flop on supporting sex ed.

"Being an MPP is not a part-time job. I believe it is not an entry-level position," Liberal candidate Vicky Ringuette said Thursday at a debate broadcast on a Niagara radio station.

The 37-year-old family lawyer pressed Oosterhoff — who has been campaigning on the issues of skyrocketing hydro rates and the need for a new West Lincoln Memorial Hospital — to say whether he wants the sex ed curriculum repealed.

"They keep bringing this up as a divisive issue," Oosterhoff replied, repeatedly evading the question, as he has on other occasions in the campaign.

"It's a yes or no, Sam," Ringuette asks. "Would you repeal the sex education curriculum?"

At another debate this week, Oosterhoff ducked questions on how he would vote on Bill 28, which will make it easier for same-sex couples to have children. He got defensive when asked how sex ed was handled in his home schooling, refusing to answer.

"We need to ensure we have a comprehensive health curriculum and one that addresses the reality of the world that kids are growing up in," he told a crowded all-candidate's meeting Monday at the Twenty Valley Golf and Country Club in Vineland on Monday.

"But we need to ensure we have a curriculum that properly includes parents in the discussion," added Oosterhoff, who has worked briefly as a policy analyst on Parliament Hill, and in demolition and excavating. He is on hiatus from first-year political science studies at Brock University.

The website of his Spring Creek Canadian Reformed Church in Vineland has links to the Association for Reformed Political Action. The lobby group brands the sex ed curriculum "sexual erotica being handed out to our kids by politicians" and calls Bill 28 "Orwellian" and "radical" for denying "the reality of sexual difference."

Bill 28 will come to a vote later this fall. If he's elected, Oosterhoff said he's counting on Brown to let Tory MPPs vote according to their conscience on motions or legislation they may personally disagree with.

"Please don't let Patrick Brown silence you if you're elected," urged Queenie Yu, an independent candidate running against sex ed and Bill 28. Yu ran as an independent in the Scarborough Rouge River byelection Sept. 1 solely on the issue of repealing the sex-ed curriculum.

Brown has muzzled the teen during the byelection, refusing to allow interviews with members of the Queen's Park media, who have subsequently made the trek to Niagara to find him at public events and ask questions.

New Democrat candidate Mike Thomas, 56, a retired police officer and police union president, is looking for support from voters leery of voting for a teenager and disgruntled with 13 years of Liberal government and scandals, from eHealth to the recent bribery charges against Wynne's former chief of staff.

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"I'm asking people to make an informed decision," he said, calling his police and union time "very valuable life experiences."

Oosterhoff fans dissatisfaction with the Wynne administration, which is struggling in recent polls — a message that was loud and clear during the meeting in Vineland.

Ringuette was jeered, booed and laughed at several times on issues ranging from electricity prices to a 2012 Liberal government decision to scrap plans to redevelop the hospital in Grimsby, in the west end of the riding sandwiched between Hamilton and St. Catharines.

When she mocked Oosterhoff for never having paid a hydro bill, one man shouted "lucky him!"

The Conservative told reporters age "isn't an issue" when he rings doorbells around the riding and called criticisms of his teen status "political cynicism."

Back on Main St., voters give Oosterhoff credit for beating out veteran politicos twice his age — including PC party president Rick Dykstra, a former MP for St. Catharines — to win the Tory nomination and a chance at a job that pays about $119,000 annually.

Many residents who stop for a chat on a mild, sunny weekday afternoon seem willing to give Oosterhoff a chance, even if his religious and social conservative views make some visibly uncomfortable.

"Maturity is more important than age," said a Ford autoworker walking his dog.

Oosterhoff pledged to represent all segments of the riding, where Hudak, now chief executive of the Ontario Real Estate Association, has worked hard to cut red tape for wineries and boutique distilleries trying to boost sales.

"Religion is a very important part of many people's lives. Some people aren't religious and I respect that," Oosterhoff said.

The byelection in Niagara West-Glanbrook is one of two on Thursday, when the Liberals hope to hold Ottawa West-Vanier following the retirement of veteran cabinet minister Madeleine Meilleur.

Brown's Conservatives have high hopes of taking the riding with their candidate, outspoken former Ontario ombudsman André Marin, 51, a lawyer who is focusing on hydro rates and crime in the campaign.

He faces Liberal Nathalie Des Rosiers, 56, dean of law at the University of Ottawa and retired civil servant Claude Bisson, 61, the brother of Ontario NDP House leader Gilles Bisson.

The votes take place the day before Wynne's embattled Liberals gather in Ottawa for a weekend convention to continue preparations for the next provincial election on June 7, 2018. The party lost campaign chief Patricia Sorbara, who stepped down last week after being charged with bribery under the Elections Act in last year's Sudbury byelection.