Manitoba Progressive Conservatives have chosen Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan to function the occasion’s new chief in one other shut contest between a longtime member of the occasion caucus and a populist conservative outsider.
In a vote performed by mail-in poll, Khan defeated Wally Daudrich, who owns a resort and ecotourism enterprise in Churchill, Man., profitable 2,198.8 factors below a weighted poll system to Daudrich’s 2,163.2, occasion management choice committee chair Brad Zander introduced Saturday on the Radisson Lodge in downtown Winnipeg.
Khan’s victory gave him 50.4 per cent of the accessible 4,362 factors, whereas Daudrich acquired 49.6 per cent of the accessible factors. The shut end result arrived following a six-month management race.
Khan mentioned after the announcement he was paying extra consideration to the results of the race than he did to the small margin of his victory.
“I believe my earlier life in soccer actually ready me for this. It was actually again into game-day mode,” mentioned Khan, a former offensive lineman within the Canadian Soccer League.
The PC management contest was sparked by the resignation of former Manitoba premier Heather Stefanson, who stepped down as occasion chief in early 2024, months after her PCs misplaced the autumn 2023 provincial election to Wab Kinew’s NDP.
Following her departure, the occasion appointed Lac du Bonnet MLA Wayne Ewasko as interim chief and selected a prolonged contest to pick out a brand new everlasting one.
The occasion gave potential contestants six months to enroll in the race and one other six months to marketing campaign, partly to keep away from a repeat of the occasion’s disputed 2021 management race between Stefanson and former Conservative MP Shelly Glover.
That race was additionally shut — Stefanson gained by 363 votes.
Steinbach MLA Kelvin Goertzen, who served as Manitoba’s interim premier for 2 months in 2021, mentioned he does not consider the small margin of victory for Khan means very a lot.
“The truth is, I believe lately in politics each election appears to be shut,” mentioned Goertzen, who endorsed Khan’s marketing campaign. “Now it is as much as Obby to show that he can deliver the occasion collectively.”
Khan endorsed by 10 caucus members
Khan, who was first elected to the Manitoba Legislature in a 2022 byelection, was endorsed by 10 out of 20 members of the PC caucus forward of Saturday’s vote.
Khan poses for a selfie following his leadership-race victory on the Radisson Lodge in downtown Winnipeg. (Prabhjot Singh Lotey/CBC)
Throughout the prolonged management race, he positioned himself as higher in a position to lead the opposition occasion out of the political wilderness on the premise he already has a seat within the legislature.
Khan made few coverage bulletins in the course of the marketing campaign. He promised to pursue extra public-private partnerships inside the health-care system and supply municipalities with an undisclosed portion of provincial gross sales tax income.
Khan turns into the primary Muslim in addition to the primary Canadian from a South Asian ethnic background to steer the Manitoba Progressive Conservatives.
The brand new chief mentioned one in all his first duties will contain reaching out to all occasion members, together with those that voted for Daudrich, to make sure the occasion is able to defeat the New Democrats in a provincial election anticipated in 2027.
“Wab Kinew — everyone knows him properly with that smile — is an actor. He locations precedence on staging grand bulletins. He loves the applause, however when it dies down, nothing follows,” Khan mentioned of the present premier.
“I, we, your PC staff, your PC elected members, will maintain them to account and that begins once more at the moment.”
Daudrich accepts outcomes
Daudrich didn’t handle reporters following the announcement of the management vote end result. Mike Patton, Daudrich’s marketing campaign supervisor, mentioned he accepted the outcomes.
Based on occasion figures, Daudrich acquired 53 extra uncooked votes than Khan: 3,387 to three,384. A complete of 29 ballots had been spoiled.
The occasion utilized a weighted voting system that prevented candidates from stacking votes inside a single constituency affiliation. Patton mentioned the method and the system had been honest.
Previous to the vote, Daudrich mentioned he deliberate to run within the forthcoming Manitoba byelection in Spruce Woods. Patton couldn’t say whether or not that is still the case.
Daudrich didn’t obtain endorsements from any members of the PC caucus. Early within the marketing campaign, he described some PC MLAs as lazy however declined to title the elected officers in query.
Throughout the marketing campaign, Daudrich positioned himself because the extra conservative of the 2 candidates and mused about eradicating the phrase “progressive” from the occasion title.
Daudrich promised to fast-track the event of Manitoba mines and construct a second port on Hudson Bay, claiming European prospects would foot the invoice for the proposed megaproject.
Khan, left, and Wally Daudrich, proper, spent six months campaigning to be PC chief. (Travis Golby/CBC)
Patrick Allard, who supported Daudrich’s candidacy, shook fingers and exchanged contact info with Khan following the choice. Allard mentioned he now helps Khan as a result of he’s a PC member first.
“Now we have the identical aim and that is profitable in 2027, eliminating this disastrous NDP,” Allard mentioned. “Having a number of voices on the desk is rarely a foul factor. So we would have a special approach to get there, however we are going to get there.”
The Progressive Conservatives at present maintain 20 seats within the 57-seat Manitoba Legislature, whereas the governing NDP holds 34.
Minutes after Khan’s victory was introduced, the New Democrats revealed an assault web site referred to as Obbythankstrump.ca.
A complete of 10,999 PC members had been eligible to vote within the 2025 management race. Zander mentioned 7,108 members accomplished ballots and 6,750 of these had been verified by occasion officers. The 6,750 ballots forged fall wanting the 16,807 ballots submitted within the 2021 PC management race.
Obby Khan chosen as new Manitoba Progressive Conservative chief
Manitoba Progressive Conservatives have chosen Fort Whyte MLA Obby Khan to function the occasion’s new chief in one other shut contest between a longtime member of the occasion caucus and a populist conservative outsider.
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