A third political leadership run has come up short for Gerard Kennedy.
After seeing his support stall on the second ballot of Saturday's Ontario Liberal Party leadership contest in Toronto, Kennedy dropped out and threw his support behind Kathleen Wynne.
"I think Kathleen has the closest approach to making the party come to terms with itself and ask itself some hard questions," Kennedy told Mike Crawley of CBC News as he navigated a crush of delegates and media to get to Wynne.
"This is where we want to go," he said, referring to his supporters following him across the floor of the arena at the Mattamy Athletics Centre, the former Maple Leaf Gardens.
Third after the first ballot with 281 votes, or 13.5 per cent, of the ballots cast, Kennedy didn't draw the endorsement of either Eric Hoskins or Harinder Takhar, the two candidates who dropped out after round one.
That showed on the second vote, as Kennedy, while still sitting third, was only able to pick up four more votes as the front runners, Wynne and Pupatello, raced ahead of him.
Kennedy then dropped out after caucusing with his supporters in a private room.
First ran in 1996
For Kennedy, the contest marked his third attempt at winning the leadership of the Ontario or federal Liberals, only to come up short.
He was head of Toronto's Daily Bread Food Bank when he entered the 1996 race to become the leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.
During the convention at Maple Leaf Gardens, he led through four rounds of balloting. However, when the fifth ballot's results were announced after 4 a.m. Dalton McGuinty, who had only been fourth on the first ballot, was the man who won the contest.
Despite that loss, Kennedy would go on to spend a decade at Queen's Park as the MPP for the Toronto ridings of York South and then Parkdale-High Park. He also served as education minister in McGuinty's cabinet.
In 2006, he made another grab for the brass ring — this time, the leadership of the of the federal Liberal Party.
Kennedy is remembered from that race for throwing his support behind Stéphane Dion, who emerged as the surprise winner.
Kennedy then served as MP for the Parkdale-High Park riding beginning in 2008 until he was defeated by the NDP's Peggy Nash in the 2011 federal election.
He threw his hat into the provincial Liberal leadership race after Dalton McGuinty announced in October 2012 that he was stepping down.
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Kathleen Wynne in Ontario, Pauline Marois in Quebec, Christy Clark in B.C., Alison Redford in Alberta. There is also Kathy Dunderdale in Newfoundland and Labrador and Eva Aariak in Nunavut
1. Kathleen Wynne - 57.04 per cent
2. Sandra Pupatello - 42.96 per cent
| @ scott_stinson : The thronged masses await. #olpldr http://t.co/XjScLd6K |
| @ Kris680News : All that's left of the protest at Church & Carlton, demo held outside the Liberal leadership convention #olpldr http://t.co/7p2Ks08h |
| @ robferguson1 : The @Kathleen_Wynne #olpldr campaign is handing out smoked meat sandwiches from@Caplansky. Wish I hadn't eaten already! #onpoli |
| @ genevievetomney : We're being told that both @Kathleen_Wynne and @SandraPupatello will appear onstage together as Yasir Naqvi reads results-Stay tuned #olpldr |
| @ suntooz : New premier will be "incoming premier." Once she and @Dalton_McGuinty meet with LG, she's the premier-designate #onpoli #olpldr |
| @ DanielKitts : Kennedy tells Steve Paikin that despite being through this before he is immensely disappointed to lose. #onpoli #OLPldr |
As we wait for the results of the third and final ballot, did you know that teens as young as 14 years old voted today at the convention?
(h/t to CBC News)
Many are saying Kathleen Wynne's convention speech has won her the job of premier. You can watch it, and read responses, here http://huff.to/XDqO44
| @ so_bell : Flood was quickly cleared up - cheer from the delegates as they resume entering the ballot box area. #olpldr |
| @ CBCQueensPark : Unless there's a concession, we'll be here a while. Huge voting lineup snakes past CBC TV. #olpldr http://t.co/KyIz4lFM |
| @ SusanDelacourt : Richard Nixon's plumbers never retired, apparently. #Olpldr delayed because of flooding problem. |
That according to a police estimate reported by CBC News. You can read about the protest and see photos here.
http://huff.to/V9rT67
| @ lrobertsglobal : Likely looking at next lib cabinet led by Kathleen Wynne. Awaiting 3rd ballot results liberal convention #onpoli http://t.co/ApTmeFvM |
Sandra Pupatello will now have a tough time winning the leadership.
Who he's throwing his support behind remains a mystery. Looks like he'll play kingmaker (or queen maker in this case) once again.
| @ Justin_Ling : Oh, apparently Sousa and Kennedy are moving together. So this is about to be decided. Weee! #olpldr |
2. Kathleen Wynne - 36.18 per cent
3. Gerard Kennedy - 13.75 per cent
4. Charles Sousa - 9.79 per cent
5. Harinder Takhar - 0.87 per cent
Takhar, who has already pledged his support to Pupatello, is automatically eliminated. Look to see what Sousa and Kennedy will do now.
The results of the second ballot are now way overdue. Luckily, it seems we'll be getting answers shortly.
| @ spaikin : The floor awaits the 2nd ballot results which are allegedly less than 10 mins away. #onpoli #olpldr http://t.co/fsnF2bw9 |
What the street outside the convention usually looks like and what it looked like during a protest held by Ontario teachers and unions on Saturday.
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| @ CBCQueensPark : @GKennedyOLP source tells me he needs to grow by gainin at least 75 @harindertakhar delegates. If he doesn't, it's over for him. #olpldr |
Rick Mercer is among the many observers cracking jokes http://huff.to/XIa3FL
| @ OPSEUSisters : 'Make the BOSSES take the LOSSES!' Another awesome sign at the #J26rally today! #olpldr http://t.co/V54n61Sh |
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CBC | Posted: 01/26/2013 8:22 pm EST | Updated: 01/27/2013 9:20 am EST