Manitoba’s New Democrat Party has nominated Carla Compton as its candidate for the upcoming Tuxedo byelection.
The Tuxedo seat was previously held by former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson, who resigned from politics earlier this month.
Compton has been a registered nurse for 18 years, and is currently a hemodialysis nurse at St. Boniface Hospital. She also runs a small consulting business.
Compton also ran unsuccessfully during the 2019 election. During a press conference Monday, Compton said now feels like the right time.
“I feel I have the time, I feel I have the energy and desire to show up for the constituents of Tuxedo and to show up at the government’s table on their behalf,” Compton said.
The Progressive Conservatives plan to hold their nomination meeting next week. Brent Pooles, the president of the Progressive Conservative Party of Manitoba, says three people are in the running, including lawyer Lawrence Pinsky, real estate agent Lori Shenkarow, and former MLA Shannon Martin.
“We have to earn people’s votes and our candidate, whoever the successful person is, will be working door-to-door, to try and earn their support of the neighbourhood,” Pooles told Global News Tuesday.
“The NDP have made a choice to call a byelection early. We were not caught off guard at all. We were planning on a possible early date, and we’ve got everything in order to hold our nomination.”
On Tuesday, the Manitoba Liberals announced Jamie Pfau as their Tuxedo candidate. A news release sent out late Tuesday afternoon said Pfau is a Tuxedo resident, a small business owner, a PhD candidate in community health sciences, and the president of the Manitoba Foster Parent Association.
The Green Party of Manitoba told Global News it plans on announcing a candidate for the Tuxedo riding on Wednesday.
Tuxedo has been a historically blue riding in Winnipeg. The seat has been held by Heather Stefanson since 2000, and prior to that it was held by Gary Filmon, also a former PC Premier.
Curtis Brown, a principal at Probe Research Inc., says despite Tuxedo being Conservative stronghold, it could be a tight race.
“This has traditionally been the very definition safe Conservative seat in Winnipeg, and there haven’t really been that many when the NDP is riding high,” Brown told Global News.
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“But the interesting thing on election night last time is just how close the NDP came with very minimal effort. I think they spent very little money on that campaign, I don’t think they door-knocked to any great extent.
“With the honeymoon kind of still on, I think the NDP kind of sees this as an opportunity to pick up a seat that I don’t think normally they have any business winning,” he added.
Brown says voter turnout for byelections can often be lower, and adds that Tuxedo is a seat the PCs will be eager to protect.
“I would imagine the Conservatives, for pride more than anything, are definitely not going to want to lose this seat,” Brown said.
The byelection is slated for June 18, 2024.
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