Spragge suddenly drops from Conservative nomination race
In a stunning announcement, Jan Spragge suddenly dropped out of the race to represent the Tories in Northumberland-Quinte West in the next election yesterday.
Insiders dubbed her the "next Janet Ecker", following in the footsteps of a respected Conservative woman who served in several high-profile portfolios under Premier Mike Harris. Spragge also had a strong following in the west end of the riding, particularly Port Hope and Cobourg. At least that was the situation a few weeks ago.
She is the second person to drop out. David St. Charles also left the race after he was blind-sided by executive members when the Nov. 18 date was set for the nomination meeting at East Northumberland Secondary School in Brighton.
This leaves Cathy Galt, the wife of former Tory MPP Doug Galt, with no serious competition and a lock on the nomination. Carl Egginman and Rob Milligan remains, neither are serious challengers.
Spragge was a fresh face and brought a sense of new vitality to the local Tories. She was extremely polished and was compared to former Liberal MP Christine Stewart, a former federal member for Northumberland, in terms of her grace and charm, according to one insider. She was heralded as a quick study and very good with people one-on-one.
More than anything, she represented a portion of the local party interested in new faces and approaches. Many of the old stalwarts were working with Galt. There were concerns by some that the Galts were using up their welcome within the party, as if they had "had their turn", as one person put it.
Well, now they will get another, no doubt.
Insiders dubbed her the "next Janet Ecker", following in the footsteps of a respected Conservative woman who served in several high-profile portfolios under Premier Mike Harris. Spragge also had a strong following in the west end of the riding, particularly Port Hope and Cobourg. At least that was the situation a few weeks ago.
She is the second person to drop out. David St. Charles also left the race after he was blind-sided by executive members when the Nov. 18 date was set for the nomination meeting at East Northumberland Secondary School in Brighton.
This leaves Cathy Galt, the wife of former Tory MPP Doug Galt, with no serious competition and a lock on the nomination. Carl Egginman and Rob Milligan remains, neither are serious challengers.
Spragge was a fresh face and brought a sense of new vitality to the local Tories. She was extremely polished and was compared to former Liberal MP Christine Stewart, a former federal member for Northumberland, in terms of her grace and charm, according to one insider. She was heralded as a quick study and very good with people one-on-one.
More than anything, she represented a portion of the local party interested in new faces and approaches. Many of the old stalwarts were working with Galt. There were concerns by some that the Galts were using up their welcome within the party, as if they had "had their turn", as one person put it.
Well, now they will get another, no doubt.
posted by Robert Washburn at
11:23 PM
2 Comments:
"The Galts"? Cathy equals Doug???
Reminds me of those in the USA who are making cracks about "Billary." Shame on you. :(
Not being a PC, I can say with objectivity that I like both Cathy and Doug but in quite different ways. You may have seen Cathy's new "LITEBLUE" licence plate. Nice touch. In case you didn't get the message, Cathy will explain it to you: "I'm a lighter blue than Doug. We don't agree on everything." Good for her!
Cathy and Lou are both good people and either would be a good MPP. I note you haven't yet said "Brighton people are using up their welcome within Northumberland -- Quinte West, they have had their turn. Well, now they will get another." Not the most relevent consideration either.
Perhaps it would be more relevant to ask whether either Cathy or Lou plan to make a presentation to the Ontario Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform when it holds its local hearings in Peterborough (Dec. 5) or Belleville (Jan. 15). Anywhere from 63% to 71% of Canadians (by three different polls) want to change to a system where every vote counts equally, and the parties' seats in the House reflect all the votes. Do they disagree?
What I great comment. It is true, I did this. But what is really interesting was I picked this up from talking to others. So, it may be a commonly held perception amongst Conservatives locally. They may not be making the distincition either.
It also says something about the way we perceive political couples, not as individuals, but as a power team. Certainly Bill and Hillary Clinton did a lot to raise this issue, since she was one of his closest advisors, as well as his wife. But, she is not alone. Eleanor Roosevelt is another great example.
What I found most interesting about these comments was the notion of entitlement. In other words, Doug Galt had his turn. Cathy should not get the nomination because "they had their turn". I am not sure what that means or how it plays out. It is quite interesting an idea.
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