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O’Toole is also running region-specific ads, with one discussing issues in Newfoundland and Labrador and another one targeted at Quebec, publicizing a recent interview.

Peter MacKay’s campaign spent just under $3,000 last week on Facebook ads, with all of them focusing on his role as a cabinet minister in Stephen Harper’s government and his role in creating the modern Conservative Party. MacKay’s ads focus on Facebook users in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Both O’Toole and MacKay have been racking up about 70-80,000 impressions on their best ads.

Another candidate soon to jump in?

Photo by Screenshot/Twitter

Jim Karahalios, a well-known activist in Ontario Progressive Conservative circles (and whose wife Belinda is now Cambridge’s MPP), says he’s close to formally entering the federal leadership race.

“We’re at 1400 signatures,” he told the National Post, referring to the party member endorsements that form part of the entry requirements. Karahalios says he plans to submit all his materials in the next few days, which includes a lengthy questionnaire and a $25,000 fee. After that, the party will have to verify that everything’s in order and potentially interview him before he becomes an official candidate.

Karahalios has battled the Ontario PCs on multiple fronts over the years; he launched a campaign against the carbon tax proposal by former Ontario PC leader Patrick Brown, and alleged that many party nomination contests were run illegally. More recently, Karahalios ran for Ontario PC party president, didn’t win, and then sued the party over allegations of “ballot stuffing” against him.

If he gets in, Karahalios will be running an anti-establishment campaign firmly on the right-wing side of the party. He acknowledged he still has a steep hill to climb to get to the $300,000 needed to get access to the party’s membership list and get onto the final ballot.

“I believe that this party establishment is totally offside with the membership and the voters,” he said. “They have made it challenging by instituting rules that would make it hard for an outsider and a grassroots candidate to raise the money in time.”