B.C. election 2020: NDP candidate Dan Coulter projected to win in Chilliwack

BC NDP candidate Dan Coulter is projected to win in the riding of Chilliwack, after receiving 38.4 per cent of the vote.

Coulter beat out incumbent BC Liberal candidate John Martin, who earned 29.5 per cent of votes cast.

Martin has held the riding since 2013.

Chilliwack had long been considered a safe riding for the Liberals, but there was already a potential for change with well-known city councillor Diane Janzen on the ballot for the Conservative Party of B.C.

Janzen said she had been told she would get the BC Liberal nomination and the party tried to convince Martin not to run again. But Martin chose to seek re-election, so Janzen ran for the B.C. Conservatives.

The BC Liberals won the riding by just over 16 per cent in 2017.

Coulter’s win continued the NDP wave that swept through Metro Vancouver this election, carrying the party to a projected majority government.

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.