2009 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election

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2009 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election
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  2004 June 27, 2009 2015  
  Tim Hudak 2014.jpg
FK
Candidate Tim Hudak Frank Klees
Riding Niagara West—Glanbrook Newmarket—Aurora
Final ballot5,606
(54.69%)
4,644
(45.31%)
First ballot3,511.87
(33.94%)
3,093.77
(29.90%)

  Christine Elliott Campaign Launch (cropped2).jpg Randy Hillier (cropped2).JPG
Candidate Christine Elliott Randy Hillier
Riding Whitby—Oshawa Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington
Final ballotEliminatedEliminated
First ballot2,728.66
(26.37%)
1,013.69
(9.80%)

2009 PC Leadership.png
Results by Ontario electoral district

Leader before election

Bob Runciman (interim)

Elected Leader

Tim Hudak

2009 Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leadership election
DateJune 27, 2009
ConventionMarkham Conference Centre,
Markham, Ontario [1]
Resigning leader John Tory
Won by Tim Hudak
Ballots3
Candidates4
Entrance fee$50,000
Spending limit$750,000
Ontario Progressive Conservative leadership conventions 1920, 1936, 1938, 1949, 1961, 1971, 1985, 1990, 2002, 2004, 2009, 2015, 2018

On March 6, 2009, Progressive Conservative Party of Ontario leader John Tory announced his intention to step down as leader following his defeat in a by-election. Tory was elected party leader in the party's 2004 leadership election, and led the party to defeat in the 2007 provincial election in which he failed to win personal election to the Ontario Legislature. He attempted again to enter the legislature in a March 5, 2009 by-election but was defeated by the Liberal candidate.

Contents

The party's executive set June 27, 2009 as the date for the new leader to be announced over the objections of several MPPs who called for a September vote. Candidates were required to register as such by April 17; in order to be able to cast a ballot it was necessary for one to have been a member of the party by May 14. [2] Of the 25 members caucus, interim leader Bob Runciman remained neutral in the race and MPP Joyce Savoline did not endorse a candidate.

The party reported that it had over 40,000 members eligible to vote in the leadership contest as of the membership cut-off of May 15, up from 8,500 at the beginning of the leadership race. [3] Of the 43,000 members eligible to vote some 25,429 members cast a ballot. [4]

Registered candidates

Tim Hudak

Tim Hudak, MPP for Niagara West--Glanbrook Tim Hudak (cropped).jpg
Tim Hudak, MPP for Niagara West—Glanbrook

Tim Hudak, 41, was the MPP for Niagara West—Glanbrook and had sat in the provincial legislature since 1995. He was the party's finance critic and was seen to be on the right of the party. Some [5] [6] consider Hudak to be the "front runner". Including himself, Hudak had the backing of a majority of the 24 member caucus.

Christine Elliott

Christine Elliott, MPP for Whitby--Oshawa Christine Elliott Campaign Launch cropped.jpg
Christine Elliott, MPP for Whitby—Oshawa

Christine Elliott, 53, was MPP for Whitby—Oshawa, first winning the seat in a 2006 by-election, and wife of Jim Flaherty. [11] Elliott filed her nomination papers on March 31 and officially launched her campaign on April 3, 2009. [12]

Frank Klees

Frank Klees, 58, was the Chief Government Whip in the Harris government, and Minister of Tourism and of Transportation in the Eves government. He came in third place in the 2004 leadership election. [15] [16] Klees appeared on Reverend Charles McVety's television program on March 29 and said he would like to run. McVety endorsed Klees during the broadcast. Klees told CTV News that he decided to throw his hat into the ring "after very careful consideration.” [17]

Randy Hillier

Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark--Frontenac--Lennox and Addington Randy Hillier cropped.JPG
Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington

Randy Hillier, 50, was a rural activist and founder of the Ontario Landowners Association. He was first elected MPP for Lanark—Frontenac—Lennox and Addington in the 2007 provincial election. [20] Hillier says that as Premier he would abolish the Ontario Human Rights Commission, allow Ontario to elect its federal Senators and introduce a bill making membership in unions and professional associations voluntary. [21]

Voting results

Winning candidate in each riding (first ballot). Dark blue=Hudak, Light Blue=Klees, Green=Elliott, Red=Hillier, Grey=Tie. Ontariopc09.PNG
Winning candidate in each riding (first ballot). Dark blue=Hudak, Light Blue=Klees, Green=Elliott, Red=Hillier, Grey=Tie.
First Ballot
CandidateWeighted Votes
(sum of percentages in each riding)
Percentage
Tim Hudak3,511.87333.9
Frank Klees3,093.77029.9
Christine Elliott2,728.66426.4
Randy Hillier1,013.6949.8
Total10,348100

Movement: Hillier eliminated and endorses Hudak; prior to balloting Hillier asked his supporters to make Hudak their second choice.

Second Ballot
CandidateWeighted Votes
(sum of percentages in each riding)
Percentage+/-
Tim Hudak4,128.57039.95+6.0
Frank Klees3,299.80931.94+1.9
Christine Elliott2,903.62128.10+1.6
Total10,332100.0

Does not include votes that were spoiled because no second choice was indicated.

Movement: Elliott eliminated

Third Ballot
CandidateWeighted Votes
(sum of percentages in each riding)
Percentage+/-
Tim Hudak5,60654.25+14.3
Frank Klees4,64444.94+13.0
Total10,332100.0

Does not include votes that were spoiled because no second or third choice was indicated.

Potential candidates who did not enter

Process

The Ontario Progressive Conservatives use a system similar to that used by the federal Conservative Party of Canada in its leadership election. Each provincial riding association had up to 100 Electoral Votes that were allocated among the candidates by proportional representation according to the votes cast by party members within the riding. This was not a "one member one vote" system since each riding generally had equal weight. (Ridings with fewer than 100 voting party members were allocated one Electoral Vote per voting member; ridings with 100 or more voting party members were allocated 100 Electoral Votes.) Voting occurred on June 21 and 25 via a preferential ballot.

This system is designed to favour candidates who can win support across the province and win in a majority of ridings. This replicates what is necessary for a party to win a general election - though without the "first past the post" feature of elections under the Westminster system. Voters ranked their choices on a preferential ballot. In this system, if no candidate wins a majority of Electoral Votes on a ballot, then the last-place candidate is eliminated, and his/her votes are redistributed according to second-choice rankings.

There was an entry fee of $50,000 and spending limit of $750,000 but no fundraising limit; twenty per cent of the money raised by candidates was shared with the party. [49]

Other rules [50] required each candidate to have a nominator, a seconder, and 100 members who sign the nomination, no more than 10 of whom could live in the same riding. Candidates also had to make a $25,000 deposit, that was refundable. Furthermore, 20% of all donations over $5,000, with the exception of the first $75,000 raised, had to be given to the party; this money was exempted from the spending limit. Candidates had until Thursday, June 18, at noon to drop out of the race. Any candidate who failed to get 10% of the vote, along with the last-placed candidate, was dropped from balloting should no one candidate get a majority of votes on the first ballot. All ridings had one balloting location with the exception of the 12 largest ridings in the province.

Timeline

See also

References

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  2. Maria Babbage (March 22, 2009). "Ontario Tories to choose new leader in June". The Globe and Mail. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
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  13. Canada. "Elliott Returns To Northern Ontario For Leadership Debate". Thealgomanews.ca. Archived from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved April 22, 2011.
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  21. Story - Ottawa Citizen Archived April 1, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
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  49. Rule 5.7.1, http://www.ontariopc.com/documents/2009%20final%20leadership%20rules%20-%20march%2022,%202009.pdf
  50. http://www.ontariopc.com/documents/2009%20final%20leadership%20rules%20-%20march%2022,%202009.pdf [ dead link ]