Lambton-Kent-Middlesex still without Liberal candidate after nomination falls through

Twenty-threedays until Ontario votes in its provincial election, and Lambton-Kent-Middlesex still does not have a Liberal candidate.

Ryan O'Hagan announced he would be the Liberal candidate on May 8 and was planning an official campaign launch at Crabby Joes in StrathroySunday evening followed by a canvassing blitz.

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Just hours before the event he posted on Facebook that the launch had been cancelled.

"Unfortunately due to events out of my control, I will not be nominated tonight as the Liberal candidate forLKM,"O'Haganwrote in a post on his personal Facebook.

O'Hagan said that he "sincerely assure[s] everybody that this decision has nothing to do with the Liberal party or any of their members."

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A party spokesperson released a brief statement but refused to discuss the reasons.

"We have a rigorous candidate vetting process and, without getting into specifics, it was determined prior to his nomination that Mr.O'Haganwill not be our candidate," according to the statement.

O'Hagan said he still strongly believes that a "Doug Ford government will take our province ten steps back and that is not something we can afford."

CBC Newsreached out to O'Hagan but has not heard back.

2014 candidate set to run

Lambton-Kent-Middlesexriding association president Michael Radanran for the party in 2014. He initially declined to run again this time around, but with O'Haganno longer in the running, Radan toldCBCNews the party will likely nominate him to be the candidate.

"At the time when I was approached when we were doing our candidate search I had some things with work that I was unable to get out of," he said. "Now, I'm just going to just jump in and help out, and see where it goes."

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Radan said his candidacy is not confirmed yet, but expects an announcementwell before Election Ontario's May 17th deadline.

"I've been able to clear my schedule ... to be able to run the campaign," Radan said. "I think that [Premier Kathleen Wynne has]put forward a strong platform that will bring fairness to all of Ontario."