[Dion]

Wildrose defectors may face bumpy ride in party nomination process

Suzanne Oel, president of the PC constituency association in Highwood, said former Wildrose leader Danielle Smith — who led the charge of nine opposition MLAs across the floor just before Christmas — will almost certainly face challengers for the Tory nod in the riding.

“I don’t have any doubt in that at this point,” she said Wednesday.

While the board accepts Smith as the Tory MLA, Oel said it wants an open nomination process.

She said there were potential candidates gearing up for a run before the floor-crossing who will likely stay in the race.

The PC board will have its first meeting with Smith on Friday evening. Oel said the board would like to hold the nomination as quickly as possible, in part to ensure that the PC standard-bearer has the support of the local membership.

Anderson was originally elected as a PC MLA in 2008 before crossing the floor to the upstart Wildrose in 2010, only to return to the Tory ranks as part of the mass defection from the official Opposition.

He said Wednesday he hasn’t decided whether he will run again but suggested he had been on the receiving end of more criticism the first time he crossed the floor.

“I’ve heard from very angry people but I’ve also heard from hundreds of people in my riding that are very happy with the move,” said Anderson.

“Will I have a challenge, sure? I wouldn’t take anything for granted but I think that if I do choose to run I would have a very, very strong shot at it.”

http://calgaryherald.com/news/politi...pc-nominations