Barely two weeks after they were crushed, the Tories are starting over.

Who better than Christine Elliott, the party’s well-respected deputy leader, to kick off their leadership race? There was something dignified and uplifting about the way she pressed the reset button.

In the race to replace Tim Hudak, she renounced his legacy of winning through wedge politics. She didn’t dis Hudak personally, but there was no mistaking her repudiating the divisive politics that were his hallmark.

Elliott’s tone of healing was revealing — demonizing no one, but stressing inclusion over exclusion. She promised to be a “voice for the vulnerable and voiceless people in our society,” a refreshing departure from the obsessive populism of both opposition parties.

Her Whitby-Oshawa riding gives her street cred in the vital 905, where the largely rural Tories must make inroads. Now, she is the front-runner in a one-horse race.

Being first out of the gate doesn’t mean she’ll be first past the finish line. She placed a distant third in the 2009 leadership convention that opted for Hudak, a reminder that she still lacks presence and star power.

Elliott, 58, may also be seen as too progressive — if not too nice — by many traditional Tories. In their one-member, one-vote convention, the grassroots will be weighing electoral appeal against their notion of Progressive Conservative principles.

For all the candidates, that means electability versus ideological fidelity. Against that backdrop, here are the other likely (and unlikely) rivals for the leadership:

Lisa MacLeod, 39, pre-empted Elliott last week with an op-ed article in the Toronto Star signalling her interest in the job (without a formal declaration). Younger and brasher than Elliott, she will be noticed as the other female, suburban MPP (she represents Nepean-Carleton outside Ottawa). If the party wants to rattle the Liberals, MacLeod has an unrivalled knack for getting under Kathleen Wynne’s skin. A commanding speaker, MacLeod attracts attention — sometimes too much.

Vic Fedeli vaulted ahead of his caucus mates in just 2-1/2 years at Queen’s Park to secure the high-profile posts of energy critic and then finance. A quick study and persuasive speaker, he could be seen as the next Bill Davis (white-haired, courtly and progressive) or be deemed too old and northern (a former North Bay mayor), but at 57 he’s younger than the current premier (61). His likability and moderate image could make him a strong second or third choice at a convention that chooses a compromise candidate.

At 37, Monte McNaughton is among the youngest (and least seasoned) MPPs. Best known for his zealous pursuit of Hudak’s anti-union crusade, he once fired off a puerile letter to OPSEU leader Smokey Thomas taunting “union bosses” — daring the “union elites” to embrace U.S.-style Right to Work laws and give up their union dues check-off. If past is prologue, McNaughton, from a rural riding outside London, would take the Tories even further into the southwestern wilderness.

Three federal cabinet ministers are unlikely to trade the fast lane in Ottawa for the slow grind of rebuilding a battered party: John Baird has the best profile and prospects, but why relinquish his jet-setting job as foreign minister? Lisa Raitt from transport has GTA roots (Halton) and a fine CV as an ex-CEO, but prefers a sure thing over a long shot. Tony Clement at Treasury Board can’t promise much after losing his first bid for provincial leader, then losing his GTA seat as an MPP.

Barrie MP Patrick Brown is organizing hard for a run. A pro-life, lifelong Tory, he flew to New York at taxpayer’s expense to run in a weekend marathon — thanks to a quick drop-in at the UN. Ridiculed, he sheepishly cancelled the expense claim for this vital bit of backbencher’s business. Given that the provincial PCs lost Barrie in this month’s election, Brown faces an uphill run winning back the seat, let alone the leadership. Rod Phillips is an urbane, urban moderate who served as chief of staff to ex-mayor Mel Lastman, later headed OLG and now chairs Toronto’s CivicAction NGO. But he has never sought elected office. Would the party gamble on another seatless GTA leader after John Tory’s troubles?

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The party executive meets next week to lay down the terms and the timing of the race. In November, New Democrats will decide whether to have one of their own. The election campaign is over, but the season of leadership campaigning is just beginning.