VANCOUVER – Premier Christy Clark completed her political comeback Wednesday, winning a seat in the legislature by defeating NDP challenger David Eby in the Vancouver-Point Grey byelection.
The vote was a dramatic nail-biter for supporters of both candidates. Eby led for most of the evening, with Clark first inching ahead then gaining momentum as the last ballot boxes were counted. She was 595 votes ahead with all ballot boxes reporting, according to Elections BC.
“We knew it would be close, within 500 votes,” said Clark campaign strategist Brad Zubyk.
“It’s a byelection, so you’re dealing with low voter turnout. But we feel pretty good about where we are now.”
When a smiling Clark arrived at a Fourth Avenue restaurant to speak to her cheering supporters at about 10:30 p.m., she was clearly happy with the results.
“Well, we did it, and when I say we, I really mean we,” she said. “This was a close race, just as it always is in this riding.”
She told reporters that she won about the same percentage of the vote that Gordon Campbell did in his last run in the riding.
Clark won 49 per cent of the vote, with Eby, a well-known civil liberties and poverty activist, taking 45 per cent.
Clark said she expects the results will be described as a squeaker, “but when Henrik Sedin is holding up the Stanley Cup over his head and he’s doing it in Game 7 after three overtimes, not a single one of us is going to complain.”
She said the governing party hasn’t won a by-election in 30 years “and you have reversed that curse.”
Clark said the tight result shows the B.C. Liberals can’t take their support for granted and that the party has to remain united because the results marked an improvement for the NDP in the riding.
“We cannot count on the NDP vote to be split.”
She told reporters, “There were a few anxious moments but nothing that upset me too much.”
At Eby’s West Broadway headquarters, where about 200 high-energy supporters watched results come in through the night, the mood was scarcely less celebratory.
“Do you know what we almost did tonight? We almost beat the premier,” said a jubilant Eby, wearing the NDP colours with a blue shirt and orange tie.
“I’m no political scientist, but I’ve got to think the provincial Liberals are in trouble if a first-time provincial run by David Eby almost took out their premier,” he said to loud applause.
“At one stage Christy and I were tied and I said to my campaign manager, “˜You told me to write two speeches but you didn’t tell me to write three.’
“I never thought we would get this close, but it’s clear to me what running a community-based campaign can do. What an amazing outcome.
Eby said he wasn’t sure if he will return to his job at the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, but he will “definitely consider” running in the general election.
“I am very buoyed by this result. I think people are going to look at this and realize if I did run again, it would be a very interesting result.”
John Cummins, leader-designate of the B.C. Conservatives, issued a statement congratulating Clark on her victory.
“The premier should have a seat in the legislature, which is why the B.C. Conservatives did not run a candidate in the riding,” he said. “I look forward to squaring off with Ms. Clark in the next general election.”
Clark quit her job as a radio talk show host last year and captured the leadership of the B.C. Liberal Party in late February. She has been premier since March 14, 2011.
But without a seat in the legislature, Clark has been forced to watch the current spring session from the sidelines.
She could be back on the floor of the legislature and into the hurly-burly of question period as early as May 24, according to Elections BC.
That would give her two weeks to flex her verbal skills there before the sessions ends on June 2 for the summer recess. At that point, attention will turn to the HST referendum and the possibility of a fall election.
“This is the final rite of passage in her re-entry into B.C. politics,” said Norman Ruff, professor emeritus at the University of Victoria.
“She won the party leadership and having a seat in the legislature was the other essential thing she had to do.”
The veteran political commentator said, “it will be ideal for Clark to return near the end of the session and shepherd through the premier’s office estimates.
Hamish Telford, a political scientist at the University of the Fraser Valley, said Clark’s win “really allows her to fulfil her duties as premier – she really needs to be in the legislature to lead her government.”
Obviously, he said, “she’s not going to accomplish a lot in this legislative session. But she has to be in there to get ready for the next session.
“And of course there might not be another session if she decides to call an election before the legislature resumes.”
A defeat would have dealt a body blow to Clark’s young leadership and to her government’s strategy for the HST referendum and a possible fall election.
“Defeat would have been unthinkable for the B.C. Liberals,” said Ruff.
“It would have derailed the whole rebuilding of the party and delegitimized her position.
“Losing face is a significant factor in politics.”
While Clark was widely expected to win, her victory is the first government-won byelection in three decades in B.C.
And while the B.C. Liberals have held Vancouver-Point Grey for several elections, the NDP has had strong support in the west-side riding.
In 2009, former premier Gordon Campbell won 50 per cent of the votes while his NDP opponent took 40 per cent.
Wednesday’s byelection was set in motion when Campbell, who has represented the riding since 1996, announced in late 2010 that was quitting politics.
Clark was criticized during the byelection campaign for not participating in all-candidates meetings – not even one on the CKNW radio talk show she previously hosted.
Instead, Clark ran a very controlled, low-key campaign, holding one telephone town hall and one live town hall.
Instead of confronting Eby face-to-face, Clark attacked him from a distance for being “way too extreme.”
Clark previously represented the ridings of Port Moody-Westwood and Port Moody-Burnaby Mountain between 1996 and 2005.
Political scientist Ruff expects Clark will return to the legislature in fine form.
“I mean she always was a good communicator and she has a new maturity now because of her experience in the media.
“But that is also her Achilles heel. Sometimes she can be too good. She doesn’t like a silence and can be too quick to express an opinion.”
Clark quit politics in 2004, saying she wanted to spend more time with her young son. She later mounted a failed run for the Vancouver mayoralty and then spent several years as a talk-show host on CKNW.
dward@vancouversun.com
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