Cory Leeds

    

The Honorable Cory Leeds MP
Leeds in 2020
Governor of Regina
Incumbent
Assumed office July 4, 2020
Deputy	Bryce Chapman
Preceded by	Hayden Koch
Member of the House of Delegates for the Missinippi Area (Regina's 3rd district)
In office October 6, 2015 – July 4, 2020
Preceded by	Jabari Farrell
Succeeded by	Cameron Rowe
Member of the Regina House of Representatives for the 29th district
In office March 20, 2004 – October 6, 2015
Preceded by	Oscar Love
Succeeded by	Michael Calderon
Personal details
Born	(1981-08-13) August 13, 1981 Fort Regina, Regina, Superior
Political party	Constitutional Unionist
Education	University of Regina
Profession	Lawmaker, politcian
Religion	Avignonese Catholicism

Cory Leeds (born August 13, 1981) is a Superian lawyer and politician currently serving as Governor of Regina since 2020 and previously served as a Member of the House of Delegates for the Missinippi Area (Regina's 3rd district) from 2015 to 2020 and was a member of the Regina House of Representatives for the 29th district from 2004 to 2015. A member of the Constitutional Unionist Party, Leeds is one of the most notable members of the party due to his rise from state to federal politics and his return to state politics with his run for the governorship. As of 2021, he is one of two Constitutional Unionist state governors in Superior along with Jeanne Louisa of New Anjou.

Leeds was born in the state capital of Fort Regina to a middle class background. His father served as a laywer and worked for the conservarive legal firm Civil Defense Association, an off-shoot of the Sierran-based Alliance Defending Liberty, and was a prominent local activist for conservative organizations. Leeds would follow in his father's footsteps and become a lawyer studying law at the University of Regina, though his legal career would last a few years due to Leeds having wider political ambitions and would run for the state legislature in 2004 to start his political career. During his tenure, he worked with the United Conservative Party and developed a moderate reputation for working with the party and pushing for a more conservative political agenda including supporting the Marriage Defense Act of 2004 which banned same-sex marriages in the state before it was repealed by the National Acceptance Act of 2016.

Duirng the 2015 Superian federal election, Leeds would run for the House of Delegates having resigned from the Regina House of Representatives to run for the 3rd district against outgoing lawmaker Andrew Shrier. Leeds would be elected and his ascension to the House of Delegates as a part of the then-growing influence of the Constitutional Unionists under Lydia Bachmann. Leeds would support conservative policies and legislation and opposed most policies and appointments by Jennifer Granholm after being elected President of Superior. When the Conservative Coalition was formed in 2018 by Isaac Dillon, Leeds supported the effort to unify the right against the Progressive Bloc. In June 2020, Leeds would announce he wouldn't run for re-election in the 2020 snap election to run for the Regina governorship to prevent a potential Liberal Democratic takeover of the office.

In the ensuing gubernatorial election, Leeds won by a margin of 45.1% and was sworn in by winning the largest plurality. As governor, Leeds would implement numerous conservative laws including pushing for school choice, scaling back welfare programs and unemployment benefits, and pushed controversial right to work laws. Social policies have included permitting the continuation of conversion therapy, attempting to push for exemptions for religious schools from federal secularism laws, and restrictive abortion laws. An advocate of states' rights, Leeds has come into conflict with the federal government under Granholm numerous times in public feuds and has gotten involved into numerous controveries.

See also

• 2020 Regina gubernatorial election