The controversy might never have arisen if Andrea Horwath simply pronounced her name the way it’s spelled.
Or if Ward 8 municipal election candidate Eve Adams highlighted an endorsement quote from someone other than her sister-in-law.
But anyway, Adams, who recently accused the Spectator of asking her questions designed to attract “click bait,” is getting a few clicks of her own for seeming to suggest in a campaign pamphlet that Ontario’s NDP leader, Hamilton’s Andrea Horwath (pronounced Horvath) endorsed her.
“Eve is the best choice for Ward 8,” reads the pamphlet, quoting a woman named “Andrea Horvath” under the heading “What Our Neighbours Say,” and shaded in orange.
Was that NDP orange? And is the quote from the NDP leader of identical phonetics but different identity?
“Andrea Horwath, Leader of the NDP and Leader of Ontario’s Official Opposition, has not endorsed Eve Adams’ municipal campaign,” reads a statement from the party. “By citing an endorsement from an ‘Andrea Horvath’ in her campaign literature, Ms. Adams has created some confusion about that.”
Adams, who grew up on the Mountain, tweeted and posted on Facebook about the reaction, saying she is “quite surprised by all of this interest in my latest campaign literature,” but that the woman quoted is her sister-in-law, a Mountain resident, hospital worker and “spectacular hockey mom,” not the politician.
“I’d like to apologize to anyone, and especially the Ontario NDP Leader, who may have assumed Andrea Horwarth was referenced,” wrote Adams.
Adams — who added that her maiden name is Horvath — is a former Mississauga Tory MP who left federal politics three years ago, following a headline-grabbing nomination race in Toronto and after she had switched parties from the Conservatives to Liberals.
“Hamilton is my hometown,” she told The Spec’s Matthew Van Dongen in August, looking ahead to the city election. “I chose to run where my heart is.”
She said her priorities as a candidate are widening the Linc, job creation and the tax burden.
Twitter reaction to the mistaken identity brouhaha included suggestions Adams used the colour orange to further cloud the distinction between the two Andreas.
Adams didn’t comment on the colour in her posts, but her election site features Tory blue, and her Facebook page adds NDP orange, with no sign of Liberal red.
