Ryan Meili has raised more money than Trent Wotherspoon in Sask. NDP leadership race
NDP leadership candidate Ryan Meili has raised more money than his sole competitor, Trent Wotherspoon, and from more donors.
Meili had raised nearly $157,700 from 896 donors, according to the party's latest report, by the end of January. Wotherspoon has received more than $127,300 from 538 different donors.
Meili's biggest donors, contributing $5,000, are himself, Alice Kuipers, Garry Ward, Shirley Ward, Jim Meili, Lea Meili, Mahli Brindamour, Olin Valby and Yann Martel.
Wotherspoon's biggest donors, who also contributed $5,000, are Construction and General Workers Local 180, Ironworkers Local 771, Millwrights Local 1021, Saskatchewan Building Trades, Unifor 649 and the United Steel Workers District 3.
Meili, who became an MLA in March 2017, said he would not accept corporate or union donations during his fundraising campaign.
Meili did not receive much financial support from NDP elected members, as only MP Erin Weir contributed to his campaign. Weir made the same donation to Wotherspoon.
Meanwhile, multiple members of the Saskatchewan NDP caucus made financial donations to Wotherspoon: Warren McCall, Nicole Rancourt, Doyle Vermette and Carla Beck.
Wotherspoon has also received donations from CUPE Saskatchewan, United Steelworkers Local 5890 and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 2038.
Party members will elect a new leader at a March 3 leadership convention in Regina.
The Saskatchewan NDP currently hold 12 seats in legislative assembly, with another three up for grabs in upcoming byelections.
Clarification : A previous version of this story said Ryan Meili did not receive much financial support from NDP members. Rather, he didn't receive much support from elected members.(Feb 21, 2018 4:25 PM)
