Hot off the Twitter-press comes word of the latest candidate to win a contested nomination:

• New Westminster – Coquitlam, BC - @mpjamesmoore tweeted that Port Moody city councillor Diana Dilworth won the contested nomination held this afternoon, and will be the Conservative Party's candidate in this vacant riding where a by-election must be called before Tuesday, October 13. Already nominated is the NDP's Fin Donnelly, a Coquitlam city councillor, while a former Liberal candidate in a neighbouring riding, Gerry Lenoski, has been actively organizing for their nomination and Port Moody Mayor Joe Trasolini has yet to rule himself out either that I can tell. No meeting date is available for the Liberals as yet. The Green Party appears to have acclaimed business analyst Rebecca Helps from Port Moody, I've just noticed, as she was apparently the only candidate to meet the June 30th deadline.

This latest news appears to rule out Elizabeth May from running in this seat in any upcoming set of by-elections, although she has previously said she would likely not announce her intentions until any by-elections were actually called.

UPDATE: You'll notice that James Moore included "Port Moody" in the riding name in his original tweet, although it's not officially there. I asked him about that, and he tweeted back that that about half of Port Moody (some 12,000 people) is in the riding of New Westminster – Coquitlam. Of course, as Mr. Moore represents the other half, which is in his riding of Port Moody – Westwood – Port Coquitlam, BC, he should know! There is currently a private member's bill (Bill C-292) sitting on the Order Paper to change the riding's name to New Westminster – Coquitlam – Port Moody in the name of the former M.P. Dawn Black, and Moore appeared to commit Ms. Dilworth to carrying this issue forward.

Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Conservatives, Greens, New Westminster – Coquitlam