A year less a day until the next provincial election and parties and their candidates are already mobilizing. 

Deb Matthews was acclaimed this week by Liberals in London-North-Centre to seek her second term at the legislature. 

Also president of the Liberal Party of Ontario, Matthews became the first Liberal nominated in the run-up to the election Oct. 10, 2007. 

"I know I'm the first Liberal," Matthews said, because as president of the party she's in a position to know. She will remain president until the party's annual general meeting this month in Toronto. 

She is not the first candidate nominated in Ontario, however. Eight Progressive Conservatives beat her to that, but she is the first candidate in Southwestern Ontario. 

The Conservatives in the region are expected to pick their candidate next month in Lambton-Kent-Middlesex. 

There, Monte McNaughton has been campaigning since April 2005, selling about 1,000 party memberships. The 29-year-old Newbury businessperson has been distributing brochures and Internet newsletters for months and has a website (www.monte2007.com) to drum up support. 

He can't raise money, however, until he wins the party nod. 

The New Democrats are still conducting a search for candidates across Ontario. Provincial NDP secretary Diane O'Reggio said she expects some nomination meetings before the end of the year. 

Matthews said the provincial Liberals have a policy whereby incumbent members aren't challenged in their bids for nomination. 

She said her first taste of being an elected representative is far different from the backroom, party organizer, campaigner and campaign co-chairperson posts she has held dating back to 1972. 

"As a politician, I have more face-to-face contact with the people I represent," Matthews said. "I really love what I do. It can be very rewarding. Every day is interesting." 

McNaughton, a three-time municipal councillor, said he's eager to represent the Lambton-Kent- Middlesex riding held by Liberal Maria Van Bommel. 

"We've been working hard at this," he said, concentrating on selling party memberships, developing a youth wing in the riding association and enlisting the support of the Strathroy business community, the town which is the largest centre in the sprawling riding. 

"I'm very passionate about serving my community," he said. "We need a strong voice in rural Ontario." 

A Conservative official said seven more Tory nomination meetings are expected this month across Ontario, but Lambton-Kent-Middlesex is the first in Southwestern Ontario and it won't come till next month. 

After that, Sarnia-Lambton is the next likely nomination meeting.