The race to lead the New Democrat Party is officially underway.
Voting opened on March 9 and ends March 29, when the party will gather in Winnipeg for the NDP convention.
Five leadership contestants are in the race to replace former NDP leader Jagmeet Singh: Edmonton Strathcona MP Heather McPherson, labour leader Rob Ashton, activist and documentary filmmaker Avi Lewis, social worker and Campbell River Coun. Tanille Johnston and organic farmer Tony McQuail.
Sanjay Jeram, a political science lecturer at Simon Fraser University, said Ashton, McPherson and Lewis have emerged as the race’s three front-runners.
Lewis has been able to fundraise more than twice as much money as the next candidate, with nearly three times as many people contributing to his campaign.
To me, there’s no obvious standout winner. I hope the wisdom of the crowd ends up picking out the one who can both be a great organizer and reconnect with voters broadly. I’m not sure who it is.
Avi
Avi Lewis has a head start on everyone else simply because he speaks French better. The French debate in Montréal was hard to watch but Avi stood out.