Former mayor and MLA to represent federal Liberals in byelection race

File photo Gordon Hogg made a splash in the B.C. Legislature with a brightly-coloured suit on his final day as a BC Liberal MLA.

Gordon Hogg will be formally announced this Sunday as the Liberal candidate in the South Surrey-White Rock byelection.

The former MLA and White Rock mayor will be welcomed as the candidate at a gathering for local party faithful at 2 p.m. at the White Rock Community Centre (15154 Russell Ave.)

Hogg confirmed Friday that he had all but officially been approved to run for the Liberals in the riding vacated by resigned Conservative MP Dianne Watts.

“They called me from Ottawa to say that I was basically approved,” he told Peace Arch News.

Former federal Liberal candidate Judy Higginbotham came within 500 votes of beating Watts for the seat – long-considered a Tory stronghold – in the 2015 election race.

Watts announced in September that she was stepping down as MP to devote her time to a bid for leadership of the B.C. Liberal party, for which she is vying with a field of seven other candidates.

Other party candidates for the yet-to-be-scheduled South Surrey-White Rock byelection are still to be confirmed. As of last week, representatives for Conservatives and the NDP said potential candidates were still being vetted. Representatives for the Green Party did not repond to PAN inquiries.