BC NDP run table in Tri-Cities but no clear winner overall as recounts loom

It may be an orange sweep in the Tri-Cities, as the BC NDP won all five local ridings.

With all the votes counted, the BC NDP are poised to win 46 seats with the BC Conservatives holding 45. The BC Greens have won two seats. However, at least two B.C. ridings are set to be recounted with a possibility of further judicial recounts.

On election night, local candidates held watch parties with their volunteers a block away from each other on Barnett Highway: the NDP at a Pasta Polo’s restaurant, while the Conservatives gathered at a campaign office.

As the results trickled in at around 8 p.m., Oct. 19, cheers erupted and dwindled at both locations as the lead between the two parties swung back and forth multiple times throughout the night.

Coquitlam-Burke Mountain

NDP candidate Jodie Wickens squeaked out a victory in Coquitlam-Burke Mountain by a margin of just 268 votes, or 1.2 percent.

Wickens thanked her supporters for putting countless hours into her campaign. “That means the world to me,” she said.

 Frolek also said he was proud of the work of his campaign team.

“Everyone was saying that it was a very crucial riding, and it’s proving to be so tonight,” he said. “We made them think twice.”

Wickens was optimistic about her chances with just one poll left to count.

“It’s been a long night, but I feel good,” Wickens said. “We always knew it was going to be close.”

Seven years after losing Coquitlam-Burke Mountain by 87 votes, Wickens returned to the riding in 2024.

The NDP were focused on Coquitlam-Burke Mountain, announcing an extra $10 million in funding for the North East Community Centre on Burke Mountain 10 days before the election.

Wickens and Frolek were the only two candidates in the riding.

Port Moody–Burquitlam

NDP incumbent Rick Glumac claimed victory by a wide margin, taking 12,871 votes (51.8 percent).

Conservative challenger Kerry Van Aswegen received 10,143 votes (40.8 percent), and Green Party candidate and Port Moody city councillor Samantha Agtarap received 1,857 votes (7.5 percent).

Glumac said he was nervous heading into tonight, concerned about vote splitting with the Green Party, and frustrated he was not able to debate his Conservative counterpart.

“It was very different in that way. I’ve never been in a campaign where the main opponent was missing,” Glumac said. “We had to basically move on without that, and just focus on reaching out to the people in the community and talking directly.”

Van Aswegen said she was disappointed in the results, but thought that the future was bright for the BC Conservative Party.

“I still think that people want change,” she said. “We will come back, and we will get this.”

Port Coquitlam

Mike Farnworth, the NDP minister of public safety, won his eighth term in office, taking 13,381 votes.

“Voter’s in Port Coquitlam are concerned about the same issues that people are province-wide,” Farnworth said. “I’m also incredibly grateful to the voters of the town that I call home.”

Keenan Adams of the Conservative Party received 9,735 votes (39 percent); Green Party candidate Adam Bremner-Akins received 1,604 votes (6.4 percent); and British Columbia Libertarian Party candidate, Lewis Dahlby, received 240 votes (1 percent).

Just four days before the election, the NDP pledged to put $3 million toward a new covered sport court in Port Coquitlam.

Coquitlam–Maillardville

The NDP’s Jennifer Blatherwick, a two-term SD43 school board trustee, won the Coquitlam–Maillardville riding with 11,569 votes (51.6 percent).

“Tonight, we’re going to celebrate, and then tomorrow we recommit ourselves to work,” Blatherwick said. 

BC Conservative’s Hamed Najafi received the second most votes with 8,939 (39.8 percent); BC Green Party’s Nicola Spurling received 1,411 votes (6.3 percent); and independent candidate Ken Holowanky received 520 votes (2.3 percent).

New Westminster-Coquitlam

NDP incumbent, Jennifer Whiteside, who serves as the minister of the mental health and addictions, handedly won re-election with 12,214 votes (58.9 percent).

Conservative challenger Ndellie Massey received 6,225 votes (30 percent), and the Green Party’s Maureen Curran received 2,292 votes (11.1 percent).

Green Party candidate Maureen Curran won 11 percent of the vote.

At press time, five races across B.C. hung in the balance by 0.7 percent or less.

Closest of the bunch Juan de Fuca-Malahat, where NDP candidate Dana Lajeunesse led by 23 votes – 0.1 percent. In Surrey City Centre, NDP candidate Amna Shah is leading by 96 votes. Both ridings are set for a recount.

The margins of victory in Courtenay-Comox, Kelowna Centre and Surrey-Guildford ranged from 0.56 and 0.69 percent.

All vote totals are tentative until certified by Elections B.C. A final tally is set to begin Oct. 26 and to finish Oct. 28.

Approximately 57.37 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot in B.C.’s 2024 election.