User:Newfoundlander&Labradorian/Sandbox
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Leadership
Premier McGuinty announced on October 15, 2012, that he would resign as leader of the Liberal Party of Ontario and premier of the province once his successor was chosen.[1] On November 2, 2012, Wynne resigned her cabinet post and three days later launched her bd for the leadership of the party.[2][3] Wynne was seen as having the strongest on-the-ground organization among the seven candidates and along with former MPP Sandra Pupatello was one of the frontrunners.[4] She had the most supporters running to be delegates at the convention, with 1,533, and the only candidate to have supporters in place in all 107 of the province's ridings.[5] Days before members were to begin electing delegates Glen Murray announced he was exiting the leadership race and endorsed Wynne's candidacy.[6] Despite running the most supporters for delegate positions Wynne placed second, with 468 delegates, behind Pupatello who had 509 delegates.[7] Pupatello was also believed to have the most support among ex-officio delegates, which are MPPs, MPs, defeated candidates and other Liberal insiders, and was expected to increase her lead over Wynne on the first ballot at the convention.[8][9]
At the convention on January 26, 2013, Wynne surprised many with her strong speech to delegates. In the speech she discussed repairing relations with teachers, working with opposition parties, and took aim at her main rival Pupatello, who doesn't hold a seat, by saying that she was ready to govern and would recall the legislature on February 19. Wynne also addressed her sexuality saying; "When I ran in 2003, I was told that the people of North Toronto and Thorncliffe Park weren’t ready to elect a gay woman. Well, apparently they were." She went on to say that "I don’t believe the people of Ontario judge their leaders on the basis of race, colour or sexual orientation – I don’t believe they hold that prejudice in their hearts".[10][11][12][13][14][15]
When the first ballot results were announced Wynne received 597 votes, trailing Pupatello by only two votes. Eric Hoskins received the fewest votes of the six candidates and was therefore eliminated. Hoskins threw his support behind Wynne while fourth place candidate Harinder Takhar announced he was endorsing Pupatello. On the second ballot Pupatello's lead grew to 67 votes over Wynne. Takhar, who's name was left on the second ballot, finished last and was eliminated from the race. Gerard Kennedy and Charles Sousa, who finished third and fourth respectively, withdrew from the race and both endorsed Wynne. With the support of both Kennedy and Sousa, her win was all but guaranteed on the third ballot. When the results of that ballot were announced Wynne received 57 per cent of the votes compared to 43 per cent for Pupatello.[16]