In 1996, the Harris government reduced the number of ridings from 130 to 103. This change meant that sitting MPPs had to compete against one another for re-nomination in some ridings. Wettlaufer ran for the Kitchener Centre PC nomination in 1999 defeating fellow PC member Gary Leadston. Wettlaufer was re-elected in the provincial election of 1999, defeating Liberal Berry Vrbanovic by over 4,000 votes in the redistributed riding of Kitchener Centre. He was appointed to the position of deputy whip after the election, and continued in his role as a backbencher throughout his time in the legislature.