Al Hawkins wins Liberal nomination for new Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans district
Second nomination victory for mayor since December
Grand Falls-Windsor Mayor Al Hawkins has won yet another nomination battle to become the Liberal nominee for the area in the next general election.
Hawkins and Councillor Rodney Mercer both wanted to run for the party in the newly-created provincial district of Grand Falls-Windsor-Buchans, which was part of Premier Paul Davis's initiative to cut the number of seats in the House of Assembly.
Hawkins won on Tuesday evening, with more than 1500 people coming out for the vote. However, the party has not released how the numbers were split between the two candidates.
In December, Hawkins had previously won the nomination to run in the old district of Grand Falls-Windsor-Green Bay South, but new nominations were called after the boundary redistribution.
"It's been an interesting ride, I feel like I've been campaigning for a year," he told CBC Radio's Central Morning Show.
"This [second] one was a little more difficult, in that it became almost a little more like an election campaign for a nomination."
Hawkins is staying on as mayor of Grand Falls-Windsor for now, but he said his campaign won't detract from his duties in that role.
"I don't see that as a problem, I am still working for the people of Grand-Falls Windsor," he said.
"It's not unusual to be mayor and also to be campaigning — I know the issues."