An outspoken Liberal MP has finally received the nod to carry his party’s banner in this October’s federal election.
Wayne Long, MP for Saint John-Rothesay, confirmed at a fundraiser on Thursday that he had officially been acclaimed as the candidate for the Liberal Party of Canada.
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Long was forced to wait longer than anticipated after he failed to meet a party deadline required to secure an uncontested nomination for the riding of Saint-John Rothesay.
“I’m ready to go to battle,” he told Global News on Friday.
Long doesn’t think the uncertainty over whether he would be forced to face a fight to represent his riding again will hurt him as he prepares for the campaign, saying it’s helped rally support for him.
Three incumbent Liberal MPs in southern New Brunswick are now official candidates for the upcoming election, making for a rematch of the 2015 campaign.
Former PC MPs Rodney Weston, Rob Moore and John Williamson will attempt to win back their former seats in Saint-John Rothesay, Fundy Royal and New Brunswick Southwest, respectively.
All three lost their seats in the 2015 red wave that swept over Atlantic Canada.
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The incumbent MPs say they are ready to fight for their seats in a region that has traditionally been a conservative territory.
“Four years ago when we were campaigning and I was a candidate for the first time, it really was talking about the work that I had done then in the community and making sure that people knew who I was,” said Alaina Lockhart, MP for Fundy Royal.
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