Leitch’s campaign manager steps down
Tory organizer says he’s become ‘a distraction’
OTTAWA • Conservative leadership candidate Kellie Leitch is down a campaign manager.
Longtime conservative organizer Nick Kouvalis announced with a Facebook post Thursday evening that he is resigning his position “because it has become clear that I have become a distraction to the campaign.”
“When a member of a campaign team becomes the focus of media coverage, the time comes to resign,” Kouvalis continued.
Among other things, Kouvalis has been criticized lately for his terminology on Twitter — such as the word “cuck” — to insult critics who didn’t like Leitch’s ideas.
He also claimed he deliberately tweeted false information about spending by Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government, later adding another post that explained he was trying to drive left-leaning people “nuts.”
“The campaign should be solely about the candidate and their plans, not their
CAMPAIGN SHOULD BE SOLELY ABOUT THE CANDIDATE.
staff’s beliefs, nor their staff’s conduct,” Kouvalis’s statement read.
“It has also become clear to me that the pressures that come with a stressful campaign leadership role are not conducive to my personal well-being.”
The Leitch campaign has borrowed other tactics from U.S. politics. The Ontario MP called President Donald Trump’s message exciting, and her campaign has advertised on such U.S.-based right-wing sites as Breitbart to try capturing a Canadian contingent of voters interested in Trump-like policies.
It’s all part of a sophisticated strategy that Kouvalis seemed confident would put Leitch within spitting distance of Conservative party leadership.
She remains a serious contender and is in second place on the fundraising front as of the fourth quarter of 2016, with only Quebec MP Maxime Bernier ahead.
It wasn’t immediately clear who would be taking over operations for her campaign. Leitch debates the 13 other leadership candidates in Halifax on Saturday. Conservatives will elect a leader May 27.