27-04-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Khan vows to build bridges after nail-biting PC leadership win
Manitoba Progressive Conservatives elected Obby Khan to lead the party in a tight race that saw the MLA for Fort Whyte eke out a win over Wally Daudrich with 50.4 per cent of the points available.
Daudrich, the Churchill lodge owner who was seen as a longshot challenger against the establishment candidate, received 49.6 per cent of the points awarded.
'Wow,' Khan told the 320 PC supporters gathered at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Winnipeg Saturday, some of whom were on their feet cheering while others sat stonefaced.
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS
Candidate Obby Khan speaks at the PC leadership debate at the Caboto Centre in Winnipeg on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
The PC party website showed Daudrich received 53 more votes than Khan but under the party's new system that awards points to each constituency based on the number of votes cast, Khan narrowly won.
After the tense, close finish was announced, Khan said he needed to catch his breath.
'That was more exciting than running out of the tunnel for a Grey Cup game,' the former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman quipped.
'I actually won this, for once!'
Khan thanked his young son, Sufi, supporters, volunteers and Daudrich for putting his name forward. He said he would reach out to all party members to unite in defeating the NDP government in the next election, expected in 2027. The PCs lost the October 2023 general election and hold 20 of the 57 seats in the Manitoba legislature.
'It's thrilling to look around this room tonight and see a different party coming together,' said Khan, who was first elected MLA in a March 2022 byelection called after former premier Brian Pallister vacated the seat.
'To see new members, young members, old members — everyone coming together — it is truly a big tent party from all geographical areas in this province,' he said.
'It's thrilling to look around this room tonight and see a different party coming together.'–Obby Khan
'I understand we might not always agree — I've said this numerous times on the campaign trail — and that's OK.
'As long as we are open and honest and respectful, we can have those conversations and we can move together forward as one Progressive Conservative party.'
Daudrich left without speaking to the party faithful or reporters after the results were announced.
Asked if Daudrich conceded defeat, campaign spokesman Mike Patton did not answer the question but said in an email that '100 per cent it was a fair and equitable process.'
The last PC leadership race in October 2021 saw then-Tuxedo MLA Heather Stefanson narrowly defeat challenger Shelly Glover by 363 votes. Glover, a former Winnipeg police officer and MP did not initially concede defeat but later unsuccessfully challenged leadership election 'irregularities' in court.
Khan told reporters Saturday night that he spoke to Daudrich after the results were announced.
'Wally and I had a nice conversation in the hallway after they announced it,' Khan said. 'I gave him a nice, big hug. We exchanged some pleasantries with one another,' he said.
'I will definitely reach out to him and work on building that bridge within our party,' Khan said. 'We are going to win government by addition, not subtraction.'
MIKAELA MACKENZIE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES
Progressive Conservative leadership candidate Wally Daudrich is suing the provincial government, saying revoking two ecotourism licences was unlawful.
Daudrich has spoken out against reproductive rights and free prescription birth control. In the last provincial election, Khan supported 'parental rights,' a term critics alleged was a thinly veiled code for a toxic anti-LGBTTQ+ movement. Khan has also mused about giving one per cent of the provincial sales tax to help fund municipalities.
Daudrich's campaign spokesman said Daudrich hasn't decided if he will seek the PC nomination to run in Spruce Woods, after previously saying he would. That seat was vacated recently after PC MLA Grant Jackson quit to run for the federal party in Brandon-Souris.
Khan didn't directly answer if he would support Daudrich getting the PC nod to run in that byelection, which must be called by October.
'Now that I'm leader, I have a lot of work to do. I have to look into all that stuff,' Khan said. 'There's a nomination process. You have to meet those requirements. I believe that if people want to run in that seat, then they should be allowed to run in that seat, so as long as you meet those requirements.'
Khan's win is likely good for the party's chances in a general election, said University of Manitoba political studies adjunct Prof. Christopher Adams.
'Looking at this, there was a sense that the party has two wings to it: the rural, more right of centre and the urban, more centrist wing,' Adams said Saturday night.
'I think here we see the urban centrist side of the party came through,' said Adams.
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'I think for the party's future, having Obby Khan as the leader is probably a good thing for the party because you have to win Winnipeg if you want to win government.'
The NDP caucus jumped on the results of the tight race, issuing a news release pointing to Tory division.
'Obby Khan won the PC leadership by a razor's edge, earning just 0.8 per cent more than his opponent Wally Daudrich,' it said. 'The result is less than Heather Stefanson's margin of victory — it's clear the Progressive Conservative party is more divided than ever.'
Khan replaces interim leader Wayne Ewasko, who held the position since Stefanson stepped down in January 2024.
Carol SandersLegislature reporter
Carol Sanders is a reporter at the Free Press legislature bureau. The former general assignment reporter and copy editor joined the paper in 1997. Read more about Carol.
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