From the back rooms to front and centre, Eugene Manning hopes to enter elected politics as PC leader
Manning says his devotion to the party goes back as far back as his childhood.
This is the first in a series of three profiles of candidates for Newfoundland and Labrador's Progressive Conservative Party.
Eugene Manning may be only 40 years old but he's already had more than 35 years of political experience.
"I think my first PC convention, I was three or four, I assume," said Manning.
"We still have the collection of all wine glasses — people remember that used be the swag that used to come with them."
When he was five he put up his first lawn sign.
One of his first memories is a 1989 rally for then PC leader Tom Rideout, who went on to lose the election to Clyde Wells' Liberals.
Both he and his family have close ties to the federal Conservative party as well.
His uncle is Senator Fabian Manning, who ran unsuccessfully to be an MP under Stephen Harper.
His sister is Judy Manning, who sits on the federal party's national council but is better known for the five months she spent as the unelected minister of justice and public safety in Paul Davis's PC government.
He's run dozens of campaigns, both provincially and federally.
He backed Erin O'Toole in his successful run for leader of the federal Conservatives, and Jean Charest, who lost to Pierre Poilievre.
After decades of campaigns as the back room guy, this is the first time Manning — who sometimes gets confused with his father, who is also Eugene Manning and is the mayor of St. Brides — will be the candidate.
He's billing his experience as "an insider's knowledge with an outsider's mind." But being the face of a campaign has been different.
"I'm a project manager, I'm a business owner, I like to have my hands in everything," he says.
"When you're out front, and you're engaged and on the road, you have to delegate and pass things out."
He says handing things off has been a challenge.
His campaign has also meant handing off his role in the family business.
You may not know J&E Enterprises; they only have one client, Fisheries and Oceans Canada. But if you've spent much time on wharfs in Newfoundland and Labrador you've probably seen his handiwork.
J&E was started by Manning's father, and he says he's built wharfs in most districts across the province, giving him contacts in many towns dotting the coast.
He didn't run as a candidate in the most recent provincial election, which could have given him political experience and a seat in the House of Assembly, because the timing didn't work out, he said.
But despite all his experience with the party, getting MHAs to back him has been a challenge. He has only two of the 12 sitting PC MHAs endorsing him, compared with the five backing his opponent, Tony Wakeham.
He says he has good relationships with some in caucus but he'll be different.
"Once people get elected, they change their tune overnight," he said.
"I think people are ready to hear the truth or ready to admit things we can do and things we can't do. Part of leadership is being able to say, 'No, we don't have the resources for that' or 'It's going to be a challenge for that.'"
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