A radio host from Colorado named Erin O’Toole was shocked and confused in August 2020 when she started receiving messages from strangers online questioning her policies.

“I thought it was weird, I don’t really have a policy,” O’Toole said. “That’s when I knew there was someone with the same name.”

The American woman was increasingly confused with the Canadian Erin O’Toole who was the leader of the Conservative Party at the time.

“When he was elected leader of the Conservative Party, I got about 2,000 new followers,” O’Toole said.

O’Toole says he gets a lot of private messages and mentions online with people who think he’s another O’Toole, so he cleared the air with this embedded tweet:

The post is getting more attention online. He said his show started getting gifts from new internet friends like Canadian chocolate bars and Canadian branded clothing. When Canadian O’Toole was ousted from his position, he received this personal sweater from a Stratford native.

“It seemed like the Canadian thing to do,” said Stewart Reynolds, also known as Brittlestar. “You know, just to send ‘hey, thanks for sticking with that and being a good sport.’ And of course he’s great and deserves it.”

Stewart said he admired how O’Toole embraced name fame and took it in stride.

“Now I’m more in tune with what’s going on in Canadian politics and just Canadian life,” O’Toole said.

When it comes to Canadian politics, O’Toole tries not to go one way or the other, at least on public platforms.

“I work in fact-based media and I think it’s very important to be open and accepting of all points of view. With reasons of course,” said O’Toole.

Erin O’Toole. (Sent)

But Reynolds says he’s not afraid to express his admiration for one O’Toole over another.

“He’s solid at number two. She is in second place to my favorite Erin O’Tooles. This is a distant second. My first favorite Erin O’Toole is of course Erin O’Toole from the US,” said Reynolds.

The similarities don’t stop at their names. The two O’Tooles share the same birthday on January 22.

That fact, once again, gets a lot of social media attention.