Tory riding association president turfed in Calgary-Egmont

The president of the Progressive Conservative riding association in Calgary-Egmont was ousted Thursday night and he believes it's due to his support of the riding's controversial nominee for the next provincial election.

"A slight push" is how David Crutcher described being voted out as president by two-thirds of the association's board.

Crutcher is an outspoken supporter of Craig Chandler, who won the nomination in the southeast riding earlier this month.

The Conservative party executive is reviewing Chandler's candidacy on Saturday because of concerns about past comments he made on his radio show against homosexuality and same-sex marriage.

"I think the board felt that perhaps I was a little too controversial at this point and they needed someone who was more neutral, as they put it, so we agreed that I should step down," said Crutcher who has defended Chandler's right to represent the party.

Chris Downing, the new interim president of the Calgary-Egmont riding association, said Crutcher's support of Chandler was not the main reason for his removal.

"There were some internal issues that had to be resolved and obviously everything is inter-related but that was not specifically the issue," he told CBC News.

In 2004, Crutcherran as a candidatein the riding for the Alberta Alliance Party but lost.