The BC NDP has made a historic breakthrough in the Okanagan, capturing the riding of Vernon-Monashee.
New Democrat Harwinder Sandhu defeated BC Liberal incumbent Eric Foster by 424 votes, when all absentee and mail-in ballots were counted on Sunday.
Vernon-Monashee has a long history of voting for centre-right parties.
The BC Liberals have held it since 1996. It was created for the 1991 election, when it sent a Social Credit MLA to Victoria.
Foster, a former mayor of Lumby, won the seat easily in 2017, beating the BC NDP’s Barry Dorval by more than 5,200 votes.
The riding contains Vernon, along with a number of small communities to the east along Highway 6, including Coldstream, Lumby and Cherryville.
Vernon-Monashee was one of just seven ridings in the province the Social Credit Party won in the 1991 election.
Candidates
- BC Liberals: Eric Foster
- BC NDP: Harwinder Sandhu
- BC Greens: Keli Westgate
- Conservative: Kyle Delfing
Swing riding meter
Vernon-Monashee is a safe BC Liberal seat. The party has won it in every election since 1996.
It was the 42nd closest result in the province based on winning percentage in 2017. Foster won by 18.51 per cent. The riding was the 21st closest Liberal seat out of the 43 won by the Liberals.
2017 election results
- BC Liberals: Eric Foster — 13,625 votes (47.87%)
- BC NDP: Barry Dorval — 8,355 votes (29.36%)
- BC Greens: Keli Westgate — 6,139 votes (21.57%)
- Libertarian: Don Jefcoat — 341 votes (1.2%)
This profile will continually be updated to reflect latest information, interviews and events in the campaign.
Find full B.C. 2020 election coverage here.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of mail-in ballots were requested across B.C. this election. As mail-in ballots cannot be counted until after election night, these results are not final.
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