Tough competition, tougher allies

Candidate roster fills up

ABOVE THE FOLD

TALK RADIO CONTENDER — The snap byelection in Bay of Quinte is heating up with all three main party candidates locked in — and the competition is fierce.

On Friday, the Liberals announced SEAN KELLY, a well-known radio broadcaster and Belleville councillor since 2018.

It’s not Kelly’s first rodeo: He previously ran for the Grits in 2007, losing to longtime PC JOHN YAKABUSKI in his home riding of Renfrew–Nipissing–Pembroke.

Small world: Kelly is also buddy-buddy with TODD SMITH, the ex-Tory whose resignation triggered the race. Like Kelly, Smith did a 16-year stint with Quinte Broadcasting, winding up as news director just before he was tapped to run for the PCs in 2011.

“The running joke in the riding is you have to be a radio DJ to win the seat,” quipped one constituent who wrote in.

While it’s the PCs riding to lose, the Liberals’ SEAN KELLY is tough competition — he enjoys strong name recognition as a radio jockey and councillor, which goes a long way in a byelection, w…