| Election Name: | 2013 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election |
| Country: | Ontario |
| Type: | presidential |
| Ongoing: | no |
| Previous Year: | 1996 |
| Next Year: | 2020 |
| Election Date: | January 26, 2013 |
| Candidate1: | Kathleen Wynne |
| 3Data1: | 1,150 (57.04%) |
| 4Data1: | 597 (28.65%) |
| Candidate2: | Sandra Pupatello |
| 3Data2: | 866 (42.96%) |
| 4Data2: | 599 (28.74%) |
| Candidate3: | Gerard Kennedy |
| 3Data3: | Withdrew |
| 4Data3: | 281 (13.48%) |
| Candidate4: | Harinder Takhar |
| 3Data4: | Eliminated |
| 4Data4: | 235 (11.28%) |
| Candidate5: | Charles Sousa |
| 3Data5: | Withdrew |
| 4Data5: | 222 (10.65%) |
| 3Data6: | Eliminated |
| 4Data6: | 150 (7.20%) |
| Leader | |
| Before Election: | Dalton McGuinty |
| After Election: | Kathleen Wynne |
| Party: | Ontario Liberal Party |
| Year: | 2013 |
| Date: | January 26, 2013 |
| Location: | Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto (Mattamy Athletic Centre, Ryerson University) |
| Numcands: | 7 |
| Ballots: | 3 |
| Entryfee: | $50,000 |
| Spendcap: | $500,000 |
The 2013 Ontario Liberal Party leadership election, held on January 26, 2013, at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto,[1] elected Kathleen Wynne as the new leader[2] of the Ontario Liberal Party, replacing Dalton McGuinty, who announced his resignation on October 15, 2012. With the Liberals forming the Ontario government, Wynne consequently became Premier of Ontario. After leading a minority government for 18 months, she called an election after the defeat of her government's budget and she led her party to a renewed majority government in June 2014.
Premier Dalton McGuinty announced his pending resignation as leader of the Liberal Party on October 15, 2012, citing a desire to bring new blood to the party leadership.[3] McGuinty also, citing the political "logjam" in Ontario, prorogued the Legislative Assembly.[4]
Under the procedure outlined by the party's constitution, the leader was to be chosen in a traditional delegated leadership convention in which up to 2,283 delegates were eligible to vote, made up of 1,712 elected delegates (16 elected by proportional representation in each of the 107 provincial riding associations), 419 ex officio delegates (current and former Liberal MPPs, defeated candidates from the last election, riding association presidents, party executive officers and other party officials, and federal Liberal MPs for Ontario) 144 youth delegates from 18 campus clubs and eight delegates representing the Women's Commission. Riding delegates ran on the slate of a leadership candidate or as independents, in the case of the former they were required to vote for that candidate on the first ballot but were free to change their support subsequently.[5] [6] Balloting at convention continued until one candidate received a majority of ballots cast.
There was a $50,000 entry fee and $500,000 spending limit not including the 25% of all money raised by candidates which had to be turned over to the party in order to pay for the convention. Candidates were not permitted to accumulate more than $100,000 in debt.[1] Nomination papers had to be signed by at least 250 party members. The registration fee for delegates was between $249 and $599.[7]
44,421 party members were eligible to vote in the selection of delegates.[5] Of these, less than 15,000 had been members when McGuinty announced his departure; 27,206 were recruited by the leadership campaigns before November 24.[8]
Eric Hoskins is the MPP for St. Paul's (2009–2018); Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2010–2011); Minister of Children and Youth Services (2011–2012); Former President of War Child Canada
Date campaign launched: November 13, 2012[12]
Campaign website:
Members signed up: Not disclosed[8]
Elected delegates: 104[13]
Gerard Kennedy is a former candidate for the Ontario Liberal leadership in 1996; MPP for Parkdale—High Park (1996–2006); Minister of Education (2003–2006); Candidate for the federal Liberal leadership in 2006; MP for Parkdale—High Park (2008–2011)
Date campaign launched: November 12, 2012[14]
Campaign website:
Members signed up: 5,000[8]
Elected delegates: 257[13]
Sandra Pupatello is the former MPP for Windsor West (1995–2011); Minister of Community and Social Services (2003–2006); Minister of Education (2006); Minister of Economic Development and Innovation (2006–2008; 2009–2011); Minister of International Trade and Investment (2008–2009); Director of business and global markets at PricewaterhouseCoopers (2011–2012)
Date campaign launched: November 8, 2012[15]
Campaign website:
Members signed up: 4,000[8]
Elected delegates: 504[13]
Charles Sousa is the MPP for Mississauga South (2007–2018); Minister of Labour (2010–2011); Minister of Citizenship and Immigration (2011–2012)
Date campaign launched: November 10, 2012[16]
Campaign website:
Members signed up: 6,000[8]
Elected delegates: 198[13]
Harinder Takhar is the MPP for Mississauga—Erindale (2003–2018); Minister of Transportation (2003–2006; Minister of Consumer Services (2006–2009); Minister of Government Services (2009–2012)
Date campaign announced: November 22, 2012[17]
Campaign website:
Members signed up: 4,000[8]
Elected delegates: 244[13]
Kathleen Wynne is the MPP for Don Valley West (2003–present), Minister of Education (2006–2010); Minister of Transportation (2010–2011); Minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Aboriginal Affairs (2011–2012); Toronto District School Board Trustee Ward 8 (2000–2003)
Date campaign launched: November 5, 2012
Campaign website:
Members signed up: 8,000[8]
Elected delegates: 463[13]
Background: MPP for Toronto Centre (2010–present), Minister of Research and Innovation (2010–2011); Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities (2011–2012); CEO of the Canadian Urban Institute (2007–2010); Mayor of Winnipeg (1998–2004)
Date campaign launched: November 4, 2012[18]
Date of withdrawal: January 10, 2013
Endorsed: Kathleen Wynne
Campaign website:
Members signed up: 3,000[8]
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forum Research Sample size: 644 | January 23–24, 2013 | Gerard Kennedy 33% | Sandra Pupatello 26% | Kathleen Wynne 25% | Eric Hoskins 11%, Charles Sousa 3%, Harinder Takhar 1% | |
| Forum Research Sample size: 425 | December 17, 2012 | Gerard Kennedy 36% | Kathleen Wynne 23% | Sandra Pupatello 20% | Glen Murray 9%, Eric Hoskins 7%, Charles Sousa 3%, Harinder Takhar 1% | |
| Forum Research Sample size: 1,127 | November 27–28, 2012 | Gerard Kennedy 16% | Sandra Pupatello 10% | Kathleen Wynne 8% | Eric Hoskins 3%, Glen Murray 2%, Charles Sousa 2%, Harinder Takhar 2%, None of these 30%, Don't know 27% | |
| Innovative Research Group Sample size: 600 | October 17–22, 2012 | Dwight Duncan 5% | Kathleen Wynne 5% | Deb Matthews 3% | David McGuinty 3%, Jim Watson 2%, Eric Hoskins 1%, Glen Murray 1%, Yasir Naqvi 1%, Charles Sousa 1%, John Wilkinson 0%, Someone else / other 10%, Don't know 42%, None / no one / refused 26% |
| Poll source | Date | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Other | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forum Research Sample size: 215 | January 23–24, 2013 | Gerard Kennedy 33% | Sandra Pupatello 28% | Kathleen Wynne 27% | Eric Hoskins 6%, Charles Sousa 4%, Harinder Takhar 3% | |
| Forum Research Sample size: 149 | December 17, 2012 | Gerard Kennedy 29% | Sandra Pupatello 26% | Kathleen Wynne 22% | Glen Murray 11%, Eric Hoskins 9%, Charles Sousa 3%, Harinder Takhar 0% | |
| Forum Research Sample size: 313 | November 27–28, 2012 | Gerard Kennedy 25% | Sandra Pupatello 16% | Kathleen Wynne 13% | Eric Hoskins 3%, Charles Sousa 3%, Harinder Takhar 3%, Glen Murray 2%, None of these 6%, Don't know 29% |
A total of 1,857 delegates were elected from Ontario's 107 electoral districts (1,712), and from the Ontario Liberal Party's 18 youth and 8 women's clubs (141). The delegates were selected over the weekend of January 12–13, with 896 elected on January 12 from the 905 region and northern and eastern Ontario and 957 elected on January 13 from Toronto and southwestern Ontario. Most of these delegates elected were pledged to support one of the leadership candidates on the first ballot at the January 25 convention, while some were independents who could vote for whomever they chose at the convention. An additional 419 ex-officio delegates were eligible to vote at the convention by virtue of party and elected offices they have held.[33]
= Eliminated from next round
= Withdrew nomination
= Winner
| Candidate | Committed[34] | Ballot 1 | Ballot 2 | Ballot 3 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Votes | Votes | Votes | +/- (pp) | Votes | +/- (pp) | ||
| Sandra Pupatello | 509 27.4% | 599 28.74% | 817 39.4% | +10.7 | 866 43.0% | +5.8% | ||
| Kathleen Wynne | 468 25.2% | 597 28.65% | 750 36.2% | +7.6 | 1,150 57.0% | +20.8 | ||
| Gerard Kennedy | 260 14.0% | 281 13.5% | 285 13.7% | +0.2 | Endorsed Wynne | |||
| Harinder Takhar | 244 13.1% | 235 11.3% | 18 0.9% | -10.4 | Endorsed Pupatello | |||
| Charles Sousa | 204 11.0% | 222 10.7% | 203 9.8% | -0.9 | Endorsed Wynne | |||
| Eric Hoskins | 105 5.7% | 150 7.2% | Endorsed Wynne | |||||
| Independent | 67 3.6% | |||||||
| Glen Murray | Endorsed Wynne | |||||||
| Votes cast and net change by ballot | ||||||||
| Total | 1,857 | 2,084 | 2,073 | -11 | 2,016 | -57 | ||
Takhar endorsed Pupatello before the second ballot voting took place, but after the deadline to drop off the ballot.