Meet the man who thinks he can beat Dwight Ball in his own district
The PC candidate in Humber-Gros Morne has spent years ramping up his campaign
It was the biggest crowd of the PC Party campaign's swing through western Newfoundland, as between 75 and 100 people were packed inside the Masonic Hall to see Leader Paul Davis and their local candidate Graydon Pelley.
What was surprising wasn't the size of the crowd — there have been bigger events — it was that this was in the district of Humber-Gros Morne, the district where Liberal Leader Dwight Ball is running.
The leader of a party that's polling over 60 per cent shouldn't have trouble getting elected, but Pelley and his supporters think the PC candidate genuinely has a shot at winning.
"If he's elected, he will be premier of the province, but people are looking beyond that. People are looking at the person who's going to be able to be the most committed to them," said Pelley.
"They feel that if he becomes premier he's not going to be able to spend the time we need him to spend in the district and be totally committed to the concerns we have."
Pelley first decided to run for the party more than two years ago, and has been ramping up his campaign since then. He is a teacher at Elwood Elementary, a former pastor and involved in sports.
Pelley points to Ball's very narrow victory in the last election as reason to think the Liberal leader could lose. The area has traditionally had strong PC support — last time, Ball won by just 68 votes.
Back then he was just a businessman and pharmacist; now he's the leader of a party riding high in the polls, someone whose face is on TV every night.
If Pelley won, it would not be the first time the leader of a winning party lost their own race. In 1989, the Liberals enjoyed a bittersweet victory by winning the election, but leader Clyde Wells lost to PC incumbent Lynn Verge.
In that case, caucus member Eddie Joyce stepped aside and let Wells take over his seat in the district of Bay of Islands.
PC party insiders aren't as confident as Pelley that they can knock off Ball in this election, but they do think there's a chance.
Pelley insists he's focused on knocking on doors, not on Ball.
"I'm going to continue to be positive and present myself as I am, as a hard-working person," he said, "who believes in this district who believes in the people and wants to work for them."
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