Liberal candidate looks to bring dissatisfied longtime PCs on board

A former Progressive Conservative running for the provincial Liberals in this year's election is pitching himself as an alternative for dissatisfied Tory faithful.

John Herron, a former two-term member of Parliament, was named as the Liberal candidate for Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins in an uncontested nomination on Saturday.

In a speech, Herron called for a "future-forward political reset" in the riding, noting the Tories' nomination of Christian activist Faytene Grasseschi.

Faytene Grasseschi will be the Progressive Conservative candidate in the riding. (CBC)

"There's a fair amount of political angst in this community over the [PCs] choice of their nominee in the next election campaign," Herron told CBC News.

Grasseschi's acclamation in December drew support from Premier Blaine Higgs, but there was internal opposition from the local riding association executive.

"The Progressive Conservatives, under the leadership of this premier, has lost its way," Herron said on Saturday. "This premier's choice for the nominee in this riding is perhaps the starkest illustration."

He called Grasseschi's nomination "a rejection and an insult" to the moderate and centrist values that former Progressive Conservatives have found success with.

Former Hampton MLA and cabinet minister Gary Crossman, who resigned in April, had initially supported another candidate for the riding – Hampton Deputy Mayor Jeremy Salgado — who eventually dropped out over "the misalignment of my beliefs and values with the current structure of our party."

Gary Crossman held the seat until his resignation in April. (CBC)

Crossman made a similar statement upon his resignation, noting his "personal and political beliefs no longer align in many ways with the direction of our party and government."

Herron's pitch to the room was to build an "unlikely" and perhaps "one-time only" coalition, but one that will maintain centrist, progressive values.

"I knew I needed to offer, to give centrists of all political persuasions ... a name on the ballot who they can trust, and a candidate who would win the seat," he said.

"It is absolutely inspiring to see my friends in this room who have checked their past partisan swords at the door to rally behind this candidacy."

Liberal Leader Susan Holt said the race is "particularly unique" because of the crowd Herron assembled.

"He's brought together current members of the Progressive Conservative Party, people from the Green Party, people who used to be Liberal and who are now Liberal again, because people realize that now is the time we need to bring forward a change," she said.

New Brunswick Liberal Leader Susan Holt spoke to a crowd of about 200 at the Hampton-Fundy-St. Martins event. (Sam Farley/CBC News)

Whether the strategy will work remains to be seen.

The Green Party candidate for the riding, Laura Myers, said in a statement she is running with a goal of winning.

Herron told CBC News on Saturday he was expecting former Cabinet minister and current Tory MLA Arlene Dunn to attend the event – but Dunn ultimately didn't come.

Longtime Progressive Conservatives Wallace Floyd and Jon Hovey, who have served on the PC riding executive, were in attendance but declined to comment when asked by Radio-Canada.