Richard Mahoney

Richard Mahoney (pronounced MaHAney) is a Canadian politician with the Liberal Party who ran for office in the riding of Ottawa Centre, but lost in the 2004 federal election. Long a close ally of Paul Martin he was expected to have an important place in the government, but he faced a stiff competition against Ed Broadbent, former leader of the NDP, which contribulted to his loss.

The two candidates were originally nominated for a by-election to replace Liberal Mac Harb who had been appointed to the Senate. This by-election was scheduled for November, but since a national election was held before then they ran in the general election. Mahoney had already played a prominent role in the campaign, becoming one of the Liberals leading attackers on the record of Conservative leader Stephen Harper.

Mahoney has been a dedicated Liberal for many years being he was leader of the Young Liberals and became close to Prime Minister John Napier Turner and is firmly a member of the Turner/Martin wing, never being close to the Trudeau/Chrétien wing. He worked for Martin 1988 leadership campaign and served as his top aid for the next few years before serving as president of the Ontario Liberal Party.

Mahoney has worked hard as a senior vice president and paid lobbyist for Borealis Capital, a board member for the Canadian-American Business Council,

A lawyer by profession he remained a chief advisor to Paul Martin when he was Finance Minister and was an important helper of Martin's leadership ambitions. Martin invited Mahoney to run in what was presumed to be the safe seat of Ottawa Centre with the hope of having him play an even more important role as an MP and cabinet minister. Penny Collenette a Chrétien loyalist and long time associate of Mac Harb and long thought to be the heir apparent in the riding was pushed aside and Mahoney was given to chance to run, in what was then thought to be a safe Liberal seat.

The race became a difficult one, however, when the popular and experienced Broadbent came out of retirement. Mahoney chances were further injured when one of Martin's first acts was a federal hiring freeze that was unpopular and economically damaging in the riding filled with civil servants and emphasized Mahoney strong fiscal conservative leanings that are at odds with the general sentiment in the riding. In the end, Mahoney lost the riding to Broadbent and the NDP.