Tory leadership race helps party post major fundraising gains

Having a leadership race in 2018 was good business for the Progressive Conservatives.

Elections Nova Scotia released 2018 fundraising totals for the province's five political parties on Monday and the Tories, on the strength of the process that resulted in Pictou East MLA Tim Houston becoming party leader, finished well ahead of the pack in terms of gross numbers.

The Progressive Conservatives raised a total of $666,347.07 for the year. Of that, $315,000 was returned to leadership candidates to cover tax receipts for anyone who made a donation to the party through them.

The governing Liberals raised $451,961.90, the NDP took in $387,371.50, the Atlantica Party raised $13,988.89and Nova Scotia Green Party brought in $2,585.

The Tories and Atlantica Party were the only two parties to see a fundraising increase from 2017, an election year. Typically, party fundraising takes a dip the year after an election. And while the Atlantica Party's increase was by just a few thousand dollars, the Tories saw a boost of almost $250,000.

At the opposite end of the fortunes spectrum, 2018 was the lowest fundraising total in a non-election year for the Liberals since 2014, the year afterthe party formed a majority government.