Juan de Fuca MLA John Horgan took over as leader of the NDP Thursday, and party officials hope to shape his public image before the Liberals beat them to it.
Shortly after nominations closed at 5 p.m., the NDP issued a brief statement confirming that Horgan had been acclaimed to replace Adrian Dix.
The announcement was a foregone conclusion after Mike Farnworth dropped out of the race last month. But if there was little fanfare around the changing of the guard, the NDP has been working hard behind the scenes to raise money for a proper introduction in the days ahead.
A recent fundraising letter from provincial director Brian Gardiner said the party raised $200,000 in April and hoped to pull in another $50,000 "to introduce and defend our new leader."
Gardiner said the money would be used to counter anticipated attack ads from the B.C. Liberals, who used the tactic to good effect against Dix in the last provincial election.
In another fundraising letter, NDP president Craig Keating warned that the B.C. Liberals "play by a very specific right-wing playbook. It is the same playbook that Stephen Harper used to destroy [federal Liberal leaders] Stéphane Dion and Michael Ignatieff before they even had their feet under them. That playbook says smear your opponents from the start."
Horgan said in an interview that the party is less worried about him than the way battles are fought today.
"You've seen Justin Trudeau with his T-shirt on and the bad moustache," he said, referencing the Conservative attack ads targeting the federal Liberal leader. "It seems to be the way of politics in the 21st century … Opponents want to brand you before you can brand yourself."
Horgan, 54, believes he can counter that by connecting with voters on a personal level.
"I'm genuine and I'm real," he said. "I'm a regular guy with a regular family."
Born and raised in Victoria, he has been married to Ellie for 30 years. They have two boys, both of whom graduated from the University of Victoria.
"The story of my life is that I come from a modest background — a single-parent family — and managed to overcome adversity and have done fairly well because of my access to public services," said Horgan, whose father died when he was a baby.
A long-time civil servant, Horgan worked for Mike Harcourt's NDP government in the 1990s before winning election in 2005.
He hopes to get the message through to British Columbians that New Democrats understand the importance of growing the economy. His first news conference will be held today in North Vancouver, where he will talk about the importance of trade.
"The Liberals have taken claim to a significant part of the public discourse, and we need to change that by demonstrating that we know what we're doing and earning the support of working-class folks again."
Premier Christy Clark wished Horgan well earlier this week, but took a shot at the way he got the job.
"You can't avoid confronting the issues when you're in a real leadership race," Clark said. "I also think having more than one person in a leadership race is the sign of a healthy party."
Horgan said all it means is that the party is united behind him.
"I'm comfortable with people," he said. "I'm an extrovert by nature. And that will assist me in being a foil for the premier, who's also an extrovert. But I'd like to think I have a bit more to offer and I'm going to make that case to the public."
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