A Perfectly Cromulent Politics Blog

When procrastinating from law school, I write about politics, tech, or whatever else I'm interested in. Feel free to tweet me up (@devinjohnston).

Who Will Succeed Howard Hampton?

Posted by Devin Johnston on June 15th, 2008

Tags:

New Democrats Online is abuzz (well, for a Saturday) in the wake of news that Ontario NDP Leader Howard Hampton is stepping aside. Many commentators have begun the inevitable speculation as to the identity of Hampton's successor.

A comment at My Blahg proposes that Olivia Chow would be a good candidate who could win support for the party in urban Ontario.

Aging mutant ninja bikie states that Cheri DiNovo would be a credible candidate who is unafraid to associate with the Party's Socialist Caucus.

Uncorrected Proofs identifies DiNovo as well as Michael Prue, Peter Tabuns, and Andrea Horwath as possible candidates. Uncorrected Proofs had also previously identified Marilyn Churley, David Christopherson, Joe Comartin, and Peggy Nash. Finally, Uncorrected Proofs has written that Perter Kormos is unlikely to seek the leadership.

Personally, I would add Sid Ryan to the growing list of possible candidates.

At this point the field seems wide open and we may see additional names added to our speculative list in the near future as they come out of the woodwork. There is no clear front runner at this point; however, Peter Taubuns has apparently had a leadership campaign in the works for some time.

If you hear any rumours about possible candidates please feel free to drop a comment (you may do so anonymously.)

UPDATE: A new forum topic has been posted at New Democrats Online for members to speculate about possible candidates. Ravi has posted a couple names there including Frances Lankin, Gilles Bisson, and Diane O'Reggio (no wikipedia article available.)

FURTHER UPDATE: David Christopherson has endorsed Andrea Horwath, should she decide to run. The names Charlie Angus and David Miller have also been tossed about.