Conservative Kathy Borrelli replaces McKenzie in federal Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore race

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After dropping its former candidate Mark McKenzie over past comments supporting the death penalty, the Conservative Party of Canada has named Kathy Borrelli as its new representative in Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore.

Announced as a candidate ahead of the April 7 nomination deadline, Borrelli is a familiar face in the riding, having previously run as a Conservative candidate for Windsor-Tecumseh in the 2021 federal election.

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In that race, she earned 25 per cent of the vote, finishing third behind NDP candidate Cheryl Hardcastle and the winning Liberal candidate Irek Kusmierczyk.

As of Tuesday morning, Borrelli is listed as the candidate on both the Conservative Party of Canada’s website and the Elections Canada website.

However, her candidacy was publicly announced on Facebook Friday, April 4, by her husband, former city councillor Paul Borrelli. He also serves as president of the Conservative Electoral District Association for Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore.

“Kathy Borrelli is officially on the ballot!” wrote Paul Borrelli in a second Facebook post Sunday.

“We’ll be out knocking on doors with out team and signs are on the way.”

The Star made multiple attempts to reach Borrelli’s campaign office for comment, but did not receive a response.

The Conservative Party of Canada was also contacted for clarification on the process used to select Borrelli, which remains unclear, but did not hear back in time for the Star’s print deadline Tuesday.

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Windsor’s Ward 4 city Coun. Mark McKenzie was dropped as the Conservative candidate for Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore April 1 after a snippet from a February 2022 comedy podcast resurfaced in which he expressed support for the death penalty, and laughed about public hangings and the electric chair.

In that same excerpt, McKenzie suggested former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was among those deserving of the death penalty.

McKenzie joins a string of both Conservative and Liberal candidates removed ahead of Monday’s nomination deadline.

Under Elections Canada rules, parties had until 2 p.m. Monday to lock in their candidates. Any candidate dropped after that deadline cannot be replaced.

Before McKenzie was appointed in late March, Borelli was one of several local CPC members who came forth expressing interest in the nomination.

Following McKenzie’s removal, others — including Tige Melton and Victor Green — publicized their desire to replace him.

The 2025 Canadian election will be the first to reflect the new Windsor-Tecumseh-Lakeshore riding boundaries. The changes shift the western portion of the Municipality of Lakeshore out of the Essex riding and into the newly redrawn district.

Election day is on April 28.

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