Conservative Mlas: Leadership Candidates

Compromise Candidate Dept: Almost immediately after Premier Ed Stelmach won the Progressive Conservative leadership in 2006, party members voiced concerns about the leadership voting system that's being used by the party for the third time, according to Montreal Gazette. Stelmach rocketed from a distant third place on the initial ballot in 2006 to first place on the second ballot, outpacing Jim Dinning and Ted Morton on the runoff. Stelmach squeezed into first place on the initial count on the second ballot, even before Morton was dropped off and his second choices gave the man known as Steady Eddie the party crown and as the top three Tory leadership candidates prepare for a runoff ballot to determine the next premier, Conservative MLAs and supporters are worried about electing a compromise candidate and calling for changes to the voting process. The current one-member, one vote process sees party faithful vote for their favourite candidate and if - like in Saturday's first ballot - nobody receives a majority of votes, the top three hopefuls advance to a second preferential ballot. A second ballot is now slated for Oct. 1. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.