Chatham-Kent-Leamington Federal Liberal candidate Katie Omstead. (Photo courtesy of Katie Omstead via Facebook)Chatham-Kent-Leamington Federal Liberal candidate Katie Omstead. (Photo courtesy of Katie Omstead via Facebook)
Chatham

Omstead aspires to be strong voice of the region

A familiar face will lead the charge for the federal Liberal Party in Chatham-Kent-Leamington.

Katie Omstead will formally accept her LPC candidate nomination for the riding this Thursday for the 2019 federal election.

Omstead, an elementary school teacher, describes herself as a community advocate who dedicates her time fighting for human rights and poverty reduction.

"I am committed to continuing to listen, learn and work hard to ensure that good-paying jobs anchor young people to their communities, seniors are treated with dignity, veterans are respected and community members have access to physical and mental health services," said Omstead.

This will be Omstead's second time running for the MP position. She ran during the 2015 election and despite being a newcomer to the world of politics, Omstead received immense community support. She was ultimately defeated, losing to Conservative incumbent Dave Van Kesteren by about four per cent of the vote in the riding.

"I think in the last election I came really close because of the type of campaign that I ran and the team behind me. We worked really hard," said Omstead. "We spent time in every single community across Chatham-Kent-Leamington, big and small. I knocked on doors where people told me they've never had a candidate knock on their door and some of them had lived in their home for 20 years. I think we ran a different style of campaign than had been seen before, very grassroots and very positive."

Since running in 2015, Omstead has kept busy with community involvement including sitting on the board of a credit union, creating ONE, an anti-human trafficking organization and co-founding Leamington Stands Strong, an organization that was created to help residents after the devastating Heinz plant closure in 2013. Omstead said if she makes it to Ottawa, she vows to be a strong voice for the riding and a strong advocate for issues facing the region.

"I think we're in a position where we're losing a lot of young people. We have all these talented incredible people who leave here, whether for post-secondary or training and many don't end up coming back. Retention of our young people is really important," said Omstead. "Also, we deserve equal access to things like health care and mental health care. Those are important to people. So just being that strong advocate and ensuring that Chatham-Kent-Leamington gets what it deserves and gets its fair share of resources is important to me."

The Chatham-Kent native will host her nomination party on December 6 at the Tilbury Knights of Columbus. The public is welcome to attend and is asked to bring a canned food good donation.

Read More Local Stories