Twenty-two days after winning a narrow victory over Glen Savoie and and Progressive Conservative machine, Liberal Gary Keating threw in the towel. Nobody saw it coming.Premier Brian Gallant had no choice but to `gratefully` accept Keating`s resignation. Keating has given an array of reasons for quitting (most laughable being that the 50 minute drive from Saint John to Fredericton being too much of a commute). Keating`s early bow out prior to the first scene set the stage for another dramatic opportunity for the politicians to come out, bash one another, and plead for your love (and money).
The party in the best position from the Quitting Keating is the Progressive Conservatives. They just lost the riding of Saint John East by the skin of their teeth. It probably didn`t help that they took the riding for granted and Savoie didn`t campaign half as hard as Keating. But they did trump the fiscal donation and lawn sign portion of the dog and pony show; giving the impression that they put in more effort than they did. Despite all that, they are counting on disenfranchised Liberal voters not turning out. That may be a safe assumption but they shouldn`t count on too many Tories showing up at the polls either as another Tory MLA won`t affect Gallant`s majority, and Tory supporters know that. The party in blue has decided to put their chips on Glen Savoie, the smited second choice in the last go around.
The Liberals need a miracle after the Keating fiasco. If we`re being honest, even the most steadfast Grits know their guy screwed the electorate. Gallant needed to deliver a modern-day Lazarus and he may have done it. Saint John`s deputy mayor, Shelley Rinehart. Rinehart is a professor of marketing at UNBSJ. She is extremely popular in the city for her excellent work with city council. But will it be enough to perform a resurrection? Some Saint Johners are speculating that Rinehart’s popularity may actually be a double edged sword as nobody wants to lose her from council.
Back by popular demand; Dominic Cardy. The election saw the NDP come in third place in Saint John East but with the party running their flagship candidate, aim to perform better. After losing the election, Cardy announced he would resign as leader of the New Democrats but that instantly raised revolt in the amond New Democrats who wanted Cardy to stay on as leader. When Keating quit, NDP supporters began to plead with Cardy to run in the by-election. After consulting his family, Cardy decided to do as the party asked of him and threw his name into the hat. Cardy also has the support of Phil Comeau, the NDP’s candidate in the general election.
Green faithful, Sharon Murphy was quick to take the opportunity for another campaign. On September 22nd, Murphy came in fourth place in the riding with 353 votes.
People’s Alliance are also running a candidate but have yet to announce who it will be. Jason Inness was the official PANB candidate in the general election and came in last place with only 115 ballots.
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