Tory defector Adam fails to win nomination

The former Conservative parliamentary secretary, who left the party after being denied the chance to run, was defeated Sunday by lawyer and long-time Liberal volunteer Marco Mendicino. Vote tally was 792 for Adams and 1,127 for Mendicino.

The riding of Eglinton-Lawrence. currently held by federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver, whom the Liberals dearly want to defeat in the Oct. 19 election after losing the riding in 2011. Mendicino, a former federal prosecutor who has never held political office, will be Oliver’s Liberal opponent.

“Joe , enjoy your sleep tonight because tomorrow we’re coming after you,” Mendicino told a cheering crowd in the auditorium at John Polanyi Collegiate Institute as the results were announced.

Adams later came on stage to congratulate Mendicino. She told reporters she plans to take some time off and spend it with her family before figuring out her next steps. “I’m going to take a couple days to go and be a mom and think about things,” she said, declining to answer whether she’ll try to seek another riding in which to run.

She promised to throw her support behind Mendicino. Liberal party organizers said 1,985 votes were cast in the nomination race. They did not release an official tally, but the final vote is believed to be 1,130 for Mendicino and 790 for Adams. Mike Colle, the Liberal MPP in the overlapping provincial riding, harshly criticized the decision by the federal party to parachute Adams in.“I just think Trudeau has to listen to the grassroots more. Talk to the Liberals on the ground, not just in the back room,” he told a leading mainstream English daily.