Calgary dentist Tanya Khattra quits Cambridge PC nomination race

CBC news has learned Tanya Khattra, the Calgary dentist that had been seeking the Progressive Conservative nomination in Cambridge, has withdrawn from the race.

Khattra has come under fire since she announced she would be running for the nomination. Many in the riding say she has tenuous — if any — ties to the community.

"I've been excited about the prospect of representing the PCs in Cambridge, but I've decided not to seek the nomination there," wrote Khattra in an email to CBC Kitchener-Waterloo Tuesday afternoon. 

She said she remains "enthusiastically committed to the PC cause" and is looking at how to best serve the party going forward. 

Will Elliott run in Cambridge?

In the meantime she said she has decided to "throw my full efforts for now behind Christine Elliott in her campaign for leadership of our party. I'm hopeful that she will decide to run in Cambridge herself!"

Speculation swirled on Tuesday around if Elliott would seek the nomination in Cambridge for the June provincial election.

Several Conservative party sources confirmed to CBC News that Elliott has been eyeing ridings where a candidate has not yet been nominated by her party. 

Elliott will join members of the Ontario PC Caucus at a "momentum-building PC rally ahead of the 2018 election" at Maxwell's in Waterloo Tuesday night. 

Nomination date TBD

The Cambridge riding has been the source of local controversy for months, ever since a local nomination meeting was cancelled in September by the Progressive Conservative executive. 

At the time, party president Rick Dykstra chalked it up to a "misunderstanding."

Although there have been reports the local nomination meeting to choose a candidate would be held March 24, president of the Cambridge PC riding association Rob Leone told CBC News on Feb. 8 that "given the leadership election for the party, the Cambridge nomination date is yet to be determined."