SCOOP: Who's who on Crombie's campaign crew
And meet Milton's likely Liberal candidate
ABOVE THE FOLD
UPDATE: The Liberals have since revealed their official campaign team. The article below is unchanged.
First in Observer I — Twenty years later, BONNIE CROMBIE is reviving her old campaign crew for 2026.
Just over two years out from the next election, the new Grit captain isn’t wasting any time (and when it comes to her image, neither are her rivals). Crombie’s already enlisted election readiness and policy development heads on the caucus side, and now, she’s assembling a campaign team that can give DOUG FORD and the PCs — and MARIT STILES’s NDP for that matter — a run for their money.
Fresh and familiar faces: Sources tell me veteran Grit operative TOM ALLISON will be the campaign director. Allison most recently worked on ANA BAILÃO’s bid for Toronto mayor, and is helping Queen’s Park alumni and mayoral hopeful DIPIKA DAMERLA in Mississauga. And the rest:
CHAD WALSH, who worked on KATHLEEN WYNNE’s 2018 campaign and in the then-premier’s office, will lead fundraising efforts.
STEVIE O’BRIEN, former top staffer at the Park and on the Hill, is the nominations commissioner and will head up the candidate selection process.
Lawyer ALEXIS LEVINE will serve as Crombie’s representative and liaison to the Ontario Liberal Party executive, including party prez KATHRYN McGARRY.
Party counsel MILTON CHAN and repeat chief returning officer SIMON TUNSTALL will also hold senior roles on the Grits 2026 revival squad.
Ditto pollster DON GUY, longtime DALTON McGUINTY-era aide DAVID GENE and senior strategist TIM MURPHY.
No word on what campaign role, if any, will go to DARRYN McARTHUR, who’s been Crombie’s right-hand person since the leadership contest.
Putting the old band back together: Crombie and Allison go way back, to their days working on MICHAEL IGNATIEFF’s unsuccessful bid for federal leader circa 2006, for which he was the runner-up. Levine and Walsh were also on Team Ignatieff.
Some Liberals aren’t happy about that political baggage. “Crombie has reunited the crew behind the Hindenburg,” texted one cheeky insider.
Still, it’s been nearly twenty years since the Ignatieff flop, with plenty of campaign wins and losses since. “All you have to do is just look at the polls in those key ridings — it’s anybody’s game at this point,” said another senior Grit operative.
UPDATE II — I’m naming more names on the campaign crew.
