Gary Pillitteri

Gary Orazio Vincenzo Pillitteri (born 1 March 1936) was a member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1993 to 2004. Born in Racalmuto, Italy, Pillitteri is a farmer and businessman. Currently, he is the founder and president of Pillitteri Estates Winery in Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Gary Pillitteri
Member of Parliament for Niagara Falls
In office 25 October 1993 – 28 June 2004
Preceded by	Rob Nicholson
Succeeded by	Rob Nicholson
Personal details
Born	(1936-03-01) 1 March 1936 Racalmuto, Italy
Political party	Liberal
Residence(s)	Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Occupation	businessman

Pillitteri is a member of the Liberal Party who first bid for the Niagara Falls electoral district in 1988. He lost to Conservative candidate Rob Nicholson in that election by a narrow margin of only 1,940 votes. After a second attempt in the 1993 general election, he defeated Nicholson by 10,823 votes and joined the federal Parliament and was re-elected in 1997 and 2000. He therefore served in the 35th, 36th and 37th Canadian Parliaments.

Pillitteri left federal politics in 2004 and did not seek a fourth term in federal office. Rob Nicholson decided to put his name forward to run as the Conservative candidate in the next election only once he learned that Pillitteri had retired. Nicholson regained the riding that year.

Electoral record

2000 Canadian federal election: Niagara Falls
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Gary Pillitteri	17,907	45.92	–	$60,782.72
	Alliance	Mel Grunstein	11,999	30.77		$48,894.94
	Progressive Conservative	Tony Baldinelli	6,077	15.58		$25,279.11
	New Democratic	Ed Booker	2,356	6.04		$5,369.41
	Green	Clara Tarnoy	501	1.28		$617.59
	Natural Law	Bill Amos	155	0.40		$0.00
Total valid votes			38,995	100.00
Total rejected ballots			320
Turnout			39,315	57.10
Electors on the lists			68,854
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

1997 Canadian federal election: Niagara Falls
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Gary Pillitteri	15,868	38.36	–	$40,762
	Reform	Mel Grunstein	10,986	26.56		$34,441
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Nicholson	9,935	24.02		$42,567
	New Democratic	John Cowan	4,052	9.79		$14,092
	Green	Alexander Rados	374	0.90		$322
	Natural Law	Bill Amos	154	0.37		$0.00
Total valid votes			41,369	100.00
Total rejected ballots			355
Turnout			41,724	64.54
Electors on the lists			65,649
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

1993 Canadian federal election: Niagara Falls
Party	Candidate	Votes	%	±%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Gary Pillitteri	20,567	47.10	–	$47,498
	Reform	Mel Grunstein	10,895	24.95		$26,500
	Progressive Conservative	Rob Nicholson	9,707	22.23		$54,883
	New Democratic Party	Steve Leonard	1,470	3.37		$6,819
	National	John Cowan	511	1.17		$1,373
	Green	John Bruce McBurney	263	0.60		$483
	Natural Law	Bill Amos	169	0.39		$0
	Abolitionist	Ted Wiwchar	82	0.19		$0
Total valid votes			43,664	100.00
Total rejected ballots			484
Turnout			44,148	66.85
Electors on the lists			66,044
Source: Thirty-fifth General Election, 1993: Official Voting Results, Published by the Chief Electoral Officer of Canada. Financial figures taken from official contributions and expenses provided by Elections Canada.

External links

• Gary Pillitteri – Parliament of Canada biography