The BC Liberal leadership race suffered its first casualty Wednesday, as candidate Moira Stilwell dropped out of the horse race and threw her support behind George Abbott.
Stilwell, a Metro Vancouver-based radiologist and nuclear medicine physician, was the first of Gordon Campbell's cabinet ministers to announce their bid for the province's top job after his surprise resignation in November. She also made waves by being the first to call for an increased minimum wage in B.C.
Stilwell told reporters in Victoria she felt her 32 years in medicine gave her the leadership qualities necessary to lead the province, but as the race wore on, she realized she couldn't win.
"When I entered the race it's because I had a strong vision for B.C. but those attributes are not enough to get me over the finish line in first place," Stilwell said.
Her resignation leaves five candidates in the running: former Liberal cabinet ministers Christy Clark, George Abbott, Kevin Falcon, Mike de Jong and former Parksville mayor Ed Mayne.
Stilwell says she will support George Abbott in his leadership bid.
"While the decision to back out has been difficult, the decision to back George is easy," she told reporters.
"I believe he has the best chance of holding the party united and defeating the NDP in 2013."
Popularity polls this winter often ranked Stilwell as the least appealing candidate to lead the province. Just eight per cent of more than 800 people polled by Angus Reid Public Opinion in December said the physician was the right person for the job.
Her status improved slightly with the entrance of Ed Mayne in January, who hasn't fared well in opinion polls.
More than half of decided Liberal voters said former deputy premier and CKNW radio host Christy Clark would be a good choice to replace Campbell.
BC Liberals will vote on Feb. 26 in a province-wide ballot to replace Campbell, who announced his resignation in the fall.
Abbott says he's thrilled to have Stilwell by his side for the countdown to next weekend's leadership race.
"This is a highly competitive contest and I can't stress how important the next 10 days are," Abbott said.
