A Facebook page calling for Morgan Wheeldon to be reinstated at the New Democratic Party's candidate for Nova Scotia's Kings-Hants riding is gaining steam.

The page, called "Reinstate Morgan Wheeldon as NDP Candidate," was created by Andria Hill-Lehr and had 251 likes mid-Thursday. It's linked to an online petition with more than 200 names.

The riding association said Wheeldon resigned as the party's candidate in Kings-Hants on Sunday after controversial comments he allegedly made in 2014 about the Middle East on Facebook surfaced.

"It is quite heartwarming to have people show support for me," Wheeldon said Thursday. He said he was not involved in the creation of the Facebook page, and he still plans to vote NDP on election day.

"Morgan Wheeldon is not one of the administrators and this was created without his direct input. He has been made aware of this page but has not endorsed it or asked us to remove it," a message from the page administration said Thursday.

"We do not know if he follows us or is aware of the content."

'We want him back'

Lehr-Hill, who lives in the Annapolis Valley riding, said she created the page to correct "a grave injustice" and to persuade the federal NDP to reverse its decision. She's urged other supporters to contact the federal party and to sign an online petition.

"Morgan is a thoughtful, articulate, considerate and the kind of person we want representing us in Parliament," she said.

"I would ask that people band together with the riding association to put the word out there to the national office that this is our community, our candidate and we want him back."

She said she hasn't had a response from the New Democratic Party and the longer the party remains without a candidate, the less likely it is to be a contender in Kings-Hants.

Liberal MP Scott Brison won the riding by 1,000 votes in the last election.

Lehr-Hill said she declined an NDP offer to run in Kings-Hants in favour of supporting Wheeldon. She said she's known the man for the past 20 years and he went to school with her children.

The page has been shared more than 2,000 times, by groups and individuals such as author Naomi Wolf.