Kady was looking for a little news out of the Conservative Party election readiness conference, so here's what I've picked up courtesy of reader sources:

• BC Southern Interior, BC - 2008 Conservative candidate Robert Zandee appears set to run again in this US-border riding whose location is otherwise pretty well described by its name, according to an interview he gave Jennifer Ditchburn of the Canadian Press. Zandee regained a second-place finish for his party in the last election, after 2006 candidate Derek Zeisman ran into some legal and other difficulties (literally) during the previous campaign and got disowned by Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, putting the NDP's Alex Atamanenko in position to regain the riding for his party, which it had lost to the Reform Party in 1993. I haven't seen the nomination formally posted at Elections Canada as yet, nor any meeting referred to in news clippings, so if someone could send me the date of Mr. Zandee's nomination or other details of a scheduled nomination meeting, it would be appreciated.
  
• Esquimalt – Juan de Fuca, BC - Another Conservative candidate from last election also appears to be returning for another crack at things, as a reader writes to advise that Troy deSouza is also attending the campaign school in Ottawa, and will be hosting a hospitality suite somewhere tonight (I wasn't invited unfortunately) called the "Club 68". Readers of the Pundits' Guide would immediately get the reference of course, because we would just punch up the riding's profile page and notice instantly that 68 votes was the raw margin of victory of his competitor, six-term M.P. Keith Martin in the last election [UPDATE: fixed "typo" that accidentally reversed the outcome of the race ;-)]. The riding also recently had the distinction of making Liberal blogger Dan Arnold's list of the country's Most Competitive Ridings, and no wonder: it has featured close two-way and three-way races in each of the last three elections. Martin is one of 11 Liberal MPs who were first elected in 1993, although he is a special case having served three-terms elected as a Reform/Canadian Alliance M.P. and three terms elected as a Liberal. The NDP usually puts on a competitive race in this seat as well, although it has cycled through a couple of candidates in recent elections. The parties are all likely waiting to see whether Dr. Martin will retire this time or next time. I was going to say that Dr. Martin's candidate financial return from 2008 was quite unusual in that it appeared that his campaign was fully financed by a transfer from party headquarters. But in fact, when looking at the riding association's return for 2008, you can see that the $81K transfer was actually from the riding association, and must have been erroneously entered in the wrong spot by either Dr. Martin's official agent or the Elections Canada data entry person. A good example of why we should always wait for the "as reviewed by Elections Canada" versions of the returns before jumping to conclusions. Incidentally, I don't see Mr. deSouza's nomination confirmed anywhere, so if anyone can supply the date and other details, I'd be grateful.
  
• Vancouver Kingway, BC - In another three-way race of a riding from the last election, comes word from a reader that Liberals have just re-nominated their 2008 candidate Wendy (Wei) Yuan by acclamation at a meeting held this past Saturday, July 25. Ms. Yuan replaced David Emerson as Liberal candidate in a riding made rather famous by Mr. Emerson's first decision after the 2006 election (namely to cross the floor and join Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet). Nevertheless, she held on to second place in spite of a growing challenge from Conservative candidate Salomon Rayek, whose growth in vote share turned the riding into the 4th closest three-way race of the last campaign. It was also pretty competitive in the spending department as well, with all 3 major candidates spending between 84% and 96% of the limit. The riding is currently represented by first-term NDP M.P. Don Davies.
  
• Mégantic – L'Érable, QC - Meanwhile back east, Liberals have a new nomination candidate who's just announced in this eastern townships riding. The current chair of Dupont Canada in Thetford Mines, Marc Giroux, will be running for his party's nomination and the right to face off against two-term Conservative M.P. Christian Paradis. No meeting date has been set as yet. Looking back to the 2000 election, the redistribution made this riding a dead heat between the Liberals and Bloc Québécois. The Bloc candidate pulled ahead in 2004, but fell to Paradis in 2006, who also pulled in about two-thirds of previous Liberal support, repeating the feat in 2008. Thus Giroux, or whoever else is successful in winning the Liberal nomination here, will have a ways to come back in order to be in contention this time. (h/t The Liberal Scarf blog)
• Nunavut, NU - Meantime, I should note a rather glaring omission from my last blogpost, in which I ran down the aboriginal candidates nominated to date, but forgot to look north of 60 and include first-time Conservative M.P. Leona Aglukkaq in the list. Aglukkaq will be facing new Liberal and NDP opponents this time around, as the CBCnews.ca northern service is reporting today that both the Liberal and NDP candidates from 2008 are bowing out from the next race.
  

I was reminded of that omission by Bill Curry's story in today's Globe and Mail, which details the establishment of an Aboriginal Caucus by the Conservative Party's national caucus. Members will include the four elected M.P.s and two Senators.

Emails are out now trying to confirm the dates and details of the two nominated Conservative women candidates in Windsor, but I realize that everyone is likely at the candidate school now (and probably on their way to Club 68, at that). So mentally add 2 non-incumbent women from Ontario to the latest Conservative count until I can tie those details down.

Also, I understand from a reader that the Liberal nomination meeting in Saanich – Gulf Islands, BC will probably be scheduled for some time around September 9. We've previously covered the two candidates running here. Once the date is confirmed, I'll be adding it to our list in the left-hand column.

If you have nomination or candidate news to share, why not drop me a line so we can pass it on to Guide readers. Then you can follow the Pundits' Guide on Twitter for all the latest news.

Labels: 41st General Election Nominations, Aboriginal Candidates, Conservatives, Liberals