Former Finance minister Travis Toews is the first official United Conservative Party leadership (UCP) candidate, but main rivals Danielle Smith and Brian Jean aren’t far behind.
Toews, who resigned from Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet to run in the leadership race, as is custom, was approved by the party Tuesday. He submitted the required documents on June 27, which included 1,000 signatures from across the province and $125,000 of his contest fees.
In total, the party requires each candidate to fundraise $175,000, most of which will cover the cost to operate the leadership race. $25,000 is a refundable deposit for candidates who comply with the code of conduct.
Candidates must submit at least $50,000 and the signatures by the first deadline of July 20, less than two weeks from now.
Campaigns for Smith and Jean — both former Wildrose Party leaders — have hinted they’re nearing official candidate status.
Jean will “file very soon,” said campaign manager Vitor Marciano. He declined to comment on how near the campaign is to reaching fundraising goals. Jean co-founded the UCP with Kenney in a 2017 merger, but lost the party’s inaugural leadership vote to the Premier.
Smith campaign manager Matthew Altheim told True North to expect “an announcement coming shortly.”
Data from Angus Reid last month show Smith and Jean are the top two choices so far, with one-quarter of Albertans saying each is an appealing leader for the party. Toews trailed at 13%.
When looking at respondents who intend to vote for the UCP in the 2023 election, those numbers rose to 34% support for Smith, and 33% for Jean. Toews rose to 25%.
Independent MLA Todd Loewen said the amount of money required to run is higher than it needs to be, “but we are doing well on the fundraising and we hope to have the first installment and signatures submitted next week.”
Amisk Mayor Bill Rock, the least known of the candidates, is likely pulling out of the race this weekend as he can’t meet the fundraising requirements, said campaign spokesperson Wyatt Claypool.
“He doesn’t want to raise any more while knowing it likely won’t work out,” Claypool told True North.
Sarah Biggs, campaign manager for Leela Aheer, said fundraising is going “extremely well.” The campaign will file its paperwork next week, she said.
A campaign spokesperson for UCP MLA and former Children’s Services minister Rebecca Schulz said they are “very optimistic that we will be able to meet the requirements and submit the package soon.”
On Thursday, Schulz’s campaign confirmed that former Interim Conservative Party of Canada leader Rona Ambrose will be chairing her leadership campaign.
Rajan Sawhney’s campaign declined to comment.
