B.C. Conservative Gavin Dew is the projected elected candidate of Kelowna Mission with more than 51 per cent of the vote.
This year, there were four candidates on the ballot in the riding of Kelowna-Mission. The candidates were B.C. NDP Harpreet Badohal, B.C. Conservative Gavin Dew, Green Party Billy Young and Independent Ashley Ramsey.
Since the 2009 election, the riding was represented by BC Liberal Steve Thomson who announced in December 2019 he would not be looking for re-election when the time came. In 2017, Thomson won the seat handily with 57.64 per cent of the vote, trouncing the second place BC NDP candidate who earned 21.03 per cent.
The riding was created in 1991 and then called Okanagan West. The Social Credit party won it in the 1991 election but since 1996 the riding has been held by the BC Liberal Party.
In 2020, Liberal candidate Renee Merrifield won the Kelowna-Mission riding. However, on April 12, 2023 the B.C. Liberals changed its name to B.C. United.
Then ahead of the 2024 election, Merrifield along with MLAs Norm Letnick and Ben Stewart announced they would not be running.
Prior to this year’s election the Electoral Boundaries Commission made changes tot he area, boundaries and names of the B.C.’s provincial electoral districts adding six new ridings.
There are 50,150 registered voters in the Kelowna-Mission riding with 14,271 marking their ballots ahead of Election Day compared to 11,082 advanced voters in 2020.
Final count will begin on Oct. 26.
More to come
