Age no barrier for candidate
17-year-old who wants to be provincial NDP candidate has plenty of support from family
Zach Hatton officially threw his hat in the ring Thursday for the provincial NDP nomination.
The 17-year-old held a press conference at Millennium Park to announce he’s going after the nomination for Peterborough Kawartha.
Hatton turns 18 in January, just six months before the provincial election in June 2018.
The Peterborough native is going into Grade 12 at St. Peter Secondary School.
He gave Ontario NDP Leader Andrew Horwath a tour of St. Pete’s last year, after he’d invited her to speak to his civics class.
Hatton said he’s been in touch with Horwath since and she’s part of the reason he chose to run.
The teenager has known he wanted to run for years though and is eager to start a career in politics.
Since word got out on Monday that Hatton was seeking the NDP nomination, he said there’s been a lot of focus on his age and work experience.
He’s already volunteered on three campaigns since 2014, which is more than most.
As for his age, Hatton’s not too concerned about that.
He’s driven out of a passion for his community and feels his years of interest in politics will serve him well.
If elected, he said he’ll be just like every other newly elected MPP learning the ropes for the first time.
The turnout for Hatton’s announcement was small, but was filled with encouraging smiles for the young red head.
His parents, Chris and Stephanie Hatton, and his sister Katie were there, along with his grandparents.
Though Stephanie said she and her husband aren’t political, it didn’t come as a surprise to her that Zach was ready to run at such a young age.
“Zachary has always been an old soul ... he’s always been wise beyond his years. He’s always been interested in the political life and what is going on around him,” said Stephanie.
Chris said it’ll be up to residents to decide what they think of Zach’s age and how it plays into politics.
“His age isn’t going to change, regardless of how people feel about him,” said Chris.
The father of two said one thing he can count on is his son’s ability to surprise people.
“He’s surprised many, many people,” said Chris.
“Including us,” Stephanie added.