The candidates to succeed Harris were Elizabeth Witmer, Tony Clement, Ernie Eves, Jim Flaherty and Chris Stockwell.
Witmer and Eves sought to distance the party from Harris's "Common Sense Revolution" agenda.
These and other comments led Harris loyalist Jim Flaherty to launch a number of publicity stunts against Eves, whose de facto rejection of the Common Sense Revolution had made him the early front-runner.
Flaherty, for his part, caught flack in the media for proposing to take the homeless off the streets by force on cold winter nights.
Eves - who had the backing of almost all PC Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs) - won the campaign.