Ontario Liberals will be choosing a new leader to replace Premier Dalton McGuinty in less than two weeks time.
It appears the vast majority of the delegates from Northwestern Ontario will be supporting Sandra Pupatello, at least on the first ballot.
Party members voted this past weekend for their preferred candidate, in advance of the leadership convention taking place in Toronto on Jan. 25 and 26.
Each of the 107 ridings in Ontario will send 16 delegates who will vote according to their riding's preferences. In Thunder Bay-Atikokan, 12 delegates will vote for Pupatello, two for Kathleen Wynne and one each for Gerard Kennedy and Charles Sousa.
In Thunder Bay-Superior North, 14 votes will go to Pupatello, one to Sousa and one to Wynne.
And in the Kenora-Rainy River riding, Pupatello and Wynne will receive six votes each, and three votes will go to Kennedy.
If no candidate wins the party's leadership after the first ballot, one or more candidates will be eliminated. At that time, delegates can change their vote.
Province-wide, it's a neck-and-neck race between Wynne and Pupatello for support from the 1,800 delegates, with Pupatello holding a slight edge, 510 votes to 468.
(Thunder Bay Television)
