A former St. John's city councillor has won the Progressive Conservative nomination for a pending byelection to replace a politician named in the legislative spending scandal.

John Dinn, who represented the Goulds area on council for more than a decade, won the nomination Tuesday night by a comfortable lead.

John Dinn has won the PC nomination for a pending byelection in Kilbride district.
(CBC)

Dinn took 1,176 of the 2,007 votes cast, well ahead of challengers Jack Lee, who took 640 votes, and Sean Hammond, who had 191 votes.

Dinn is campaigning to replace Ed Byrne, who will resign the St. John's-area seat effective Jan. 1.

Byrne, who has held Kilbride since 1993, was forced to resign as natural resources minister in June when Auditor General John Noseworthy reported he had received more than 10 times what he was due in tax-free constituency allowances.

Byrne announced on Nov. 28 his plans to resign from politics altogether, saying he could not perform his duties as a member of the house of assembly while still under a cloud of the legislative spending scandal.

Voters in Kilbride have elected only Tory candidates to the legislature since it was created in redistribution leading up to the 1975 election.

However, the Liberals and New Democrats are promising spirited campaigns for the seat.

The Liberals have nominated Bob Clarke as their candidate. The NDP have not yet nominated a candidate.

Premier Danny Williams cannot set a date for a byelection until the seat actually becomes vacant.

Provincial law requires a byelection to be called within 60 days — and held within 90 days — of a seat becoming vacant.