Who are the 5 candidates vying to be Nova Scotia's next PC leader?

Two women and three men are campaigning to lead Nova Scotia's Progressive Conservative Party. On Oct. 27, the party will choose the person who will lead it into the next provincial election, likely sometime in 2021.

Here are the candidates:

Julie Chaisson​

• Julie Chaisson has built her campaign around leading the Progressive Conservatives in a new direction, and presented herself as a political outsider and voice of change for the party.
• She is the executive director of the Halifax Seaport Market and has worked in the trucking, energy and construction sectors. 
• Chaisson was a PC candidate for Chester-St. Margaret's in the 2017 provincial election.
• She lives in Chester Basin, Lunenburg County. She's married and is the mother of three children.

Cecil Clarke

• Cecil Clarke is career politician and says he has the experience to win and take over as premier with a minimum amount of on-the-job training.
• He is currently in his second term as mayor of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality.
• He was elected to the legislature in 2001 and was re-elected three times, serving as a cabinet minister for economic development, energy and justice.
• Clarke got married in North Sydney just last month.  

Tim Houston

• Tim Houston is one of the party's most vocal critics of the Liberals and has positioned himself as most able to take on the Liberals in the next election.
• He is a chartered accountant who serves as the PC's finance critic.
• He was first elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly as MLA for Pictou East in 2013 and was re-elected in 2017. 
• He is married with two children and lives in Pictou County. 

John Lohr

• John Lohr is appealing to the more conservative wing of the Progressive Conservative Party, vowing to oppose a carbon tax, protect religious values and remove barriers to natural gas development.
• He is an agri-business entrepreneur and owns Farmer John's Herbs in Kings County, where he has lived all his life. 
• He was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 2013 and again in 2017, representing Kings North.
• He is married with three sons. 

Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin

• Elizabeth Smith-McCrossin has focused on private sector job creation and is pledging to cut taxes, including a zero tax rate for small business.  
• She is a nurse who also holds an MBA from Saint Mary's University. She has owned a number of businesses including a health food store and a wellness clinic.
• She was elected to the Nova Scotia House of Assembly in 2017, representing Cumberland North.  
• She lives in Amherst and is married with four children.