DVE race heats up - and what it means for Queen's Park

Plus: PCs lead Q2 fundraising, ethics watchdog defends lobbying decisions in court, and "a roast of Doug Ford"

Good Tuesday morning. This is Queen’s Park Observer.

ABOVE THE FOLD

The PCs continue to lead the fundraising pack — but first, the federal Liberal nomination for Don Valley East is heating up — and what it means for Queen’s Park.

The Grits will pick their candidate on August 7, and the race is shaping up to be anything but a shoo-in for heavyweight contender MICHAEL COTEAU, current MPP for the riding.

According to Liberal insiders, there are roughly 4,500 members on the list of local voters, and an operative with HAFEEZ LADHA’s camp — Coteau’s rival — is claiming about 2,950 of them as his supporters. While those are only sign-ups and the real test will come on voting day, a senior organizer on Ladha’s team told me “we’re optimistic about the result, and we know it’s going to be difficult campaign.”

Coteau’s campaign is “taking nothing for granted.” A senior member of his team denied another number that’s been floating around — 800 supporters for Coteau — saying that was achieved thro…