Alberta’s Prime Minister Jason Kenney announced his intention to step down as UCP leader last month, but he will remain in office until a new leader is elected. In a Twitter post Wednesday night, Rebel Garner said she had been encouraged to run for party leadership and would therefore no longer run in the Conservatives’ federal leadership race. Rebel Garner co-chaired Brabton Mayor Patrick Brown’s campaign for the Conservative federal leadership. “I owe it to the Albertans to give their full and full attention to this crucial decision,” Rebel Garner wrote. “I will make my decision based on the discussions I have with the people I represent – the Alberts.” 2 / In recent weeks, I have been encouraged to seek the leadership of the United Conservative Party. This is not a decision that should be taken lightly by anyone. – @ MichelleRempel The announcement on Twitter marks the first public comment of Rebel Garner regarding the fight after strong rumors that she announced her candidacy. Rebel Garner is a well-known political presence in Calgary, whose broad platform includes both strong support for LGBTQ rights and gun ownership. He was also one of the two remaining lawmakers who backed Brown’s campaign effort to lead the Federal Conservatives.
Bid for “bigger dive”, says poll
Political commentator and pollster Janet Brown said Rebel Garner’s one-legged approach to announcing her bid could be a strategy for evaluating her support base. “She’s probably trying to get a little excited, to get some people to go out and talk in her favor; and if she decides to run, she might be more surprised because she created the suspense piece.” Brown said the departure of Rebel Garner from the federal leadership candidacy for Brown could undermine his hopes for the election. “[It’s] big blow for him. “He already lost support from two other MLAs earlier this week and could really mark the official end of his campaign,” Brown said. Kenney resigned last month after gaining 51.4 percent support in a leadership rating. He intends to remain prime minister until the party elects a new leader in October. “As soon as Kenney resigned, it was always an interesting question about how the UCP leadership would be intertwined with the CPC leadership, because so many of the people who would take part in one leadership competition would also take part in another.” . said Brown. At the moment there are eight other candidates who have officially entered the race for the leadership of the province:
Calgary MLA Rebecca Schulz Grande Prairie-Wapiti MLA Travis Toews Media personality and former Wildrose Party leader Danielle Smith Fort McMurray-Lac La Biche MLA and former Wildrose leader Brian Jean Former UCP Minister for Social Services and Transport Rajan Sawhney Former UCP culture, multiculturalism and position of Women Minister Leela Aheer Independent MLA Todd Loewen Amish Mayor and former Wildrose candidate Bill Rock
