Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne speaks at Queen's Park Legislature in Toronto on Tuesday, May 8, 2018. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Frank Gunn

Doug Ford has Kathleen Wynne stumped.

On what could be her last day in office, the premier spent most of it trying to answer a simple question posed by the Tory leader in Monday’s debate.

“I truly believe you got into politics for the right reason,” Ford told Wynne during the debate. “My question is very simply, when did you lose your way?”

In a radio interview, in a speech at Queen’s Park and in a press conference with reporters, Wynne spent much of Tuesday asking for a redo on her answer.

[READ MORE: Wynne, Horwath launch tag team attack on Ford in first Ontario leaders’ debate]

Calling the question Ford put to her “bedevilling.” His remark hit a nerve with Wynne.

“I have been thinking about it overnight,” she told the legislature. “And you know how at 3:30 in the morning you come up with the best answers? That was me, 3:30 this morning; I came up with the best answers.”

“I haven’t lost my way. I have never lost my way.”

By the time Wynne spoke at Queen’s Park she had already asked Lt.-Gov. Elizabeth Dowdeswell to drop the writ on the June election. A campaign that the polls say will likely end with a Ford majority.

[READ MORE: Confident Doug Ford reaches out to disgruntled Liberals, NDP]

The Progressive Conservative leader’s question tapped into Wynne’s persistently low popularity and echoed the message he is pushing that the premier has lost the plot on affordability and the every day lives of Ontarians.

Ford’s attack preoccupied the entirety of Wynne’s final speech to the 41st legislature.

“I’ve never lost my way, because I have stayed connected to the mom in Red Lake who was working at Tim Hortons, who was worried about the tuition for her daughter to go to college two years ago,” she said. “That young woman can get free tuition now.”

Even though she dwelled on the issue she said she wasn’t “haunted” by Monday’s debate. There will be at least two more before voters choose their next government on June 7.

Ford meantime doubled-down on the line of attack at a press conference with reporters Tuesday morning. Maintaining that he believe’s Wynne has “lost her way” but saying ultimately “the people will decide” whether he’s right.

NDP Leader Andrea Horwath says she didn’t lose any sleep over her debate performance. Telling reporters at the legislature that she believes she “achieved” her goal of presenting another option to voters.

Polls show that 80 per cent of the electorate are ready for change. Still, no campaign is taking the next four weeks for granted. Previous Ontario elections have proven that campaigns matter. Ahead of the 2014 election, Wynne was also trailing in the polls but pulled off a surprise majority government, leaving the Tories badly bruised.

[READ MORE: Ontario Liberals launch fear campaign against Doug Ford]

For Horwath, this campaign is also a make-it-or-break-it moment for her career as she tries to change her party’s third-place standing. In her third general election as leader, she is the veteran on the campaign trail.

The Progressive Conservative leader will hold his official campaign launch in Etobicoke Tuesday night. The Ford Nation heartland has been represented by two generations of Fords at City Hall and Queen’s Park. Ford’s dad, Doug Sr., held the seat provincially and Doug Jr. and his brother, Rob, both represented the area at Toronto city hall.

After attending Question Period, Horwath spent the afternoon campaigning in the Liberal-held riding of Scarborough Southwest.

To chants of “four more years,” Wynne left the legislature on her campaign bus heading for opposition-held ridings.

Wynne spent the afternoon campaigning in two NDP ridings (Parkdale-High Park and Toronto Danforth) and the Progressive Conservative riding of Scarborough North.

Follow @MariekeWalsh