WATCH: Surrey Mayor Elect Linda Hepner talks to Global BC’s Steve Darling
In what was expected to be a close three-way race, Surrey First candidate Linda Hepner was elected mayor of Surrey, handily beating former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum and councillor Barinder Rasode.
As of 11:00 p.m., Hepner had more than 46,901 votes; McCallum had 27,982 and Rasode 21,764.
“Surrey has spoken loud and clear,” said Hepner to her supporters Saturday night. “We are not going back. We are going forward.”
Hepner’s win caps a big night for Surrey First as their candidates won all eight city council seats and six school trustee spots.
Following her win, Hepner told Global BC that heading into tonight’s vote her team was confident that the mayoral race wasn’t as close as her opponents suggested.
“I think they believed they were in a tight race,” said Hepner of her opponents. “Our polling showed different. I had to believe my campaign team when they told me, ‘Linda, we’re going to do this. Just stick with us. We know what we’re doing.’ And I’m thrilled that every single one of my guys got across that line. That was important to me. I could not be happier.”
“I congratulate Surrey First and all their candidates and Linda for winning this election,” said McCallum in his concession speech. “I hope that they will work together and will listen to everyone in Surrey so that we can have a far better Surrey as we go ahead in the future.”
Hepner will succeed Dianne Watts, who announced she would not run for re-election after serving three terms as mayor and nine years as a city councillor.
In an election where all candidates focused on the need to get tough on crime, Hepner’s record as a city councillor and long-standing relationship with the popular Watts may have helped put her over the top.
Here are full Surrey 2014 election results.
WATCH: Dianne Watts talks to Global BC
FULL RESULTS
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