Major parties name candidates for Pictou West byelection
Nova Scotia's three main political parties have all announced who their candidates will be in next month's Pictou West byelection.
Premier Tim Houston called the byelection last weekend, about two weeks after former Pictou West MLA and Speaker of the House Karla MacFarlane's surprise announcement that she was retiring from provincial politics.
A few days before the byelection call, the Tories selected Marco MacLeod to represent them.
MacLeod is a Scotsburn resident who runs a sawmill and previously worked as a flight instructor and as an engineer and manager for Michelin. He bested Wes Surrett in a contested nomination process.
On Thursday, Mary Woolridge-Elliott defeated Stephanie Quinn in a contested nomination to earn the right to represent the Nova Scotia Liberals.
Woolridge-Elliott ran for the party in the 2021 provincial election. She is a councillor for the Municipality of Pictou County and a bus driver for the Chignecto-Central Regional Centre for Education. She lives in Seafoam.
Also on Thursday, the NDP announced its candidate would be Melinda MacKenzie, a resident of Pictou who works as a teacher and serves as a councillor for the Town of Pictou.
The Green Party of Nova Scotia's candidate is Clare Brett, a professional musician with a focus on children's and family entertainment who ran for the party in the 2021 provincial election.
Election day for the byelection is May 21, however early voting has started at the Pictou West returning office at 49 Pine Tree Rd. in Pictou.
MacFarlane served the district as MLA after first being elected in the 2013 provincial election, and was subsequently re-elected in the 2017 and 2021 general elections. She won her last election with 64 per cent of the vote.
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