NDP say Sault PC candidate may not live in his riding

The Progressive Conservative provincial election candidate in Sault Ste. Marie is taking issue with a suggestion from the New Democrats that he does not live in the riding he’s running to represent.

This came in the form of a Twitter post by the Ontario NDP, prompting a series of tweets from PC candidate Ross Romano in response.

The tweets directed at Romano said he “may not live in Sault Ste. Marie” and that at one point during his term as MPP, he lived in Sudbury. Romano said that’s not true and has demanded an apology from NDP leader Andrea Horwath.

“I live in Sault Ste. Marie, and I’ve lived my entire life in Sault Ste. Marie,” said Romano.

“My wife and kids live in Sault Ste. Marie, work in Sault Ste. Marie and they go to school in Sault Ste. Marie. I’ve never lived a day in my life in Sudbury.”

Romano said his wife did work in Sudbury for a time, but that he never lived there with her. He says the NDP are playing “gutter politics.”

“They don’t want to talk about what they’re going to do for voters,” said Romano. “Instead, they would rather just run a smear campaign against me.”

Michelle McCleave-Kennedy, the NDP candidate for Sault Ste. Marie, said the question of where Romano lives has come up during her door-knocking campaign.

“I’m hearing from many folks at the doors, (and) they tell me that he doesn’t live here,” she said.

“Whether that’s a perception that they have or it’s something that they believe because his wife had a position in Sudbury as a judge, I’m not sure where that comes from, but that’s what I’m hearing.”

“It’s a campaign, and the momentum is building,” she added. “And with the momentum building in campaigns, people are excited about what’s happening. And so, you hear different things in the community.”

CTV News Northern Ontario did reach out to NDP leader Andrea Horwath’s campaign for a statement on this matter. However, as of deadline, we have not received a statement from her office.