Twenty-three hundred Liberal delegates are converging on Maple Leaf Gardens this weekend to elect a new Liberal leader and Premier of Ontario.

Former Windsor MPP Sandra Pupatello has a narrow lead in delegate support over Don Valley West MPP Kathleen Wynne. Third-place challenger Gerard Kennedy is hoping history will repeat itself and he will emerge victorious. Kennedy lost the leadership in 1996 when Dalton McGuinty rose from fourth place to become an upset winner.

The delegates votes are only committed through the first ballot. Then the deal-making and arm-twisting will begin. McMaster University political science professor Henry Jacek says the Liberals know that they are too unpopular to win an election now, so they will be thinking of which candidate has the best chance of keeping the minority government alive.

The main item on today’s agenda is a tribute to outgoing Premier Dalton McGuinty. The results of the first ballot will be announced tomorrow.

Listen to AM 740 //s3.amazonaws.com Classical 96.3 FM News throughout the weekend for comprehensive coverage of the Liberal leadership convention