Former Winnipeg councillor Klein officially nominated by PCs for Manitoba by-election

A former Winnipeg city councillor is following up his mayoral bid with a run for provincial office, after getting the official nod from his party Monday evening.

Kevin Klein, who represented the Charleswood-Tuxedo-Westwood ward in southwest Winnipeg from 2018 until last month’s municipal election, will stand for Manitoba’s Progressive Conservatives in Kirkfield Park.

Klein, who finished third in the mayoral race and expressed his desire to run for the Manitoba Legislature less than 48 hours after those results came in, was formally nominated by the PCs on Monday.

“I’m excited to run for the opportunity to serve the residents of Kirkfield Park. I will continue to advocate in this new role to help make our communities safer, help make life more affordable, support the improvements at the Grace Hospital ICU, and a more competitive economy,” Klein said in a statement Monday.

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The Kirkfield Park seat has been vacant since its MLA, former finance minister Scott Fielding, left politics for the private sector.

A date for a by-election in the riding has yet to be announced.

As candidate for the governing PCs, Klein will face off against Logan Oxenham, announced as candidate for the opposition NDP in September, as well as Manitoba Liberal Rhonda Nicol and Green Party candidate Dennis Bayomi.

0:27 Kevin Klein to seek Manitoba PC nod for Kirkfield Park byelection following mayoral loss