Listen to this article
Estimated 2 minutes
The audio version of this article is generated by AI-based technology. Mispronunciations can occur. We are working with our partners to continually review and improve the results.
A second potential candidate is exploring a campaign to become leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick.
The party has set up a website where members can register to endorse Don Monahan, a first-term MLA representing the sprawling Arcadia-Butternut Valley-Maple Hills riding.
The constituency stretches from the outskirts of Moncton along the Trans-Canada Highway to the area around the communities of Gagetown and Jemseg.
Monahan, originally from Petitcodiac, is the party’s finance critic in the legislature.
He turned down an interview request, saying in an email that “there will certainly be more to share in due course.”
WATCH | Who is potential PC leadership candidate Don Monahan?:
2nd candidate ponders PC leadership run
Rookie MLA Don Monahan is seeking endorsements for a campaign to lead New Brunswick’s Progressive Conservative Party.
A business owner and former member of the Canadian Armed Forces, Monahan is fluently bilingual thanks to an extended posting at a military base in Quebec, where he also served two terms as a city councillor in Mascouche, outside Montreal.
Candidates must gather 500 endorsements from party members around the province to be approved to run.
Former premier Blaine Higgs resigned as leader in October 2024 after leading the party to its biggest election defeat in almost three decades.
Daniel Allain, a former PC cabinet minister, is the only declared candidate in the race.
MLA Kris Austin said in December that he would not run.
Party members will elect a leader Oct. 17.