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Kevin O'Brien Said He's Running In A Newfoundland Riding That Doesn't Exist

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NL PC Handout

A federal Tory hopeful announced on Friday he would be running in a Newfoundland and Labrador riding that doesn’t exist.

In a news release, Kevin O’Brien indicated he was leaving his post as an MHA for the provincial district of Gander to pursue candidacy in the federal riding of Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor. Except that riding has been renamed Coast of Bays-Central-Notre Dame, after changes in electoral district boundaries.

His official resignation as a provincial politician came after he was confirmed on Thursday to run under the federal Conservative banner in the upcoming federal election.

O’Brien is running as a Conservative despite previous vocal opposition to Stephen Harper. During a past appearance on a local radio show, O'Brien said the prime minister had “no integrity” and that "the man made promises and he broke promises."

But he’s changed his tune and The Telegram reporter James McLeod, who spotted his latest political misstep, also reported that O’Brien later sent out a press release with the correct name of the riding he hopes to represent.

O’Brien’s error is reminiscent of a campaign gaffe made by Mitt Romney during the 2012 U.S. election. His campaign app misspelled America, splashing the slogan “A Better Amercia.” Romney’s press secretary at the time, Andrea Saul, responded on MSNBC with the verbal equivalent of shrugging her shoulders: “Mistakes happen.”

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