Coon's riding pick means no election showdown with Holt

Turns out there won't be a head-to-head showdown between two opposition party leaders in next year's provincial election.

Green Leader David Coon says he plans to run in Fredericton-Lincoln, one of two new ridings created by the slicing in two of his current Fredericton South riding.

"I live in the riding ... so it was a pretty easy decision," Coon said.

Liberal leader Susan Holt hasn't decided yet where she will run but she lives in the other new constituency, Fredericton South-Silverwood, and has ruled out running in Fredericton-Lincoln.

That means no rematch between the two party leaders, who were both on the ballot in Fredericton South in 2018.

It wasn't even close: Coon won with 56.3 per cent of the vote. Holt, who was not leader of the Liberals at the time, was a distant second with 20.1 per cent.

Coon and other Green Party members opposed the splitting of Fredericton South when provincial election boundaries were redrawn by an independent commission earlier this year.

WATCH | No head-to-head race between leaders next year:

N.Bs Green Party leader to run in Fredericton-Lincoln

1 year ago

Duration 1:31

David Coon has represented Fredericton South since 2014, but the riding was split in two on a new electoral map adopted earlier this year.

They argued the south-side downtown core of Fredericton was a "community of interest" and should be in a single, cohesive riding.

But the commission said its new map responded to a request from the city of Fredericton for more ridings within the city and the elimination of so-called "hybrid" ridings with both urban and rural areas.

"It's a hard thing to not re-offer to serve the people on the west side of Regent Street, who I've served since 2014. It's not easy. But it is what it is," Coon said.

"I'm looking forward to introducing myself to people in Southwood Park, Bishop Heights, Lincoln Heights and down Lincoln Road out to Lincoln."

Still undecided

Holt said Monday she is still undecided between Fredericton South-Silverwood and Hautes-Terres-Nepisiguit, the new riding in northeast New Brunswick that is a tweaked version of the Bathurst East-Nepisiguit-St. Isidore constituency she won in a byelection.

Holt said she'll wait until newly created Liberal associations in the ridings choose dates to nominate candidates and make her choice then.

"Right now I am focused on finding ways to make life more affordable for New Brunswickers," she said.

The Liberals plan to finish setting up new riding associations to match the new map in about a month and plan to start nominating some candidates before the end of 2023.

The Greens in Fredericton-Lincoln will meet later this month to set up a riding organization there and will then decide when to hold their nomination meeting.

The next provincial election is scheduled for Oct. 21, 2024.