Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. John Rustad has won the Nechako Lakes riding.
This marks Rustad's re-election in the Nechako Lakes riding, which he has held since 2005, first as a BC Liberal MLA and then briefly as an Independent before he went on to become a Conservative . This is the first time, Rustad will hold Nechako Lakes riding as a Conservative.
Rustad got 7,770 votes (67.70%) out of the total 11,477 votes cast in the riding.
B.C. NDP candidate Murphy Abraham received 3,100 votes (27.01%) and the B.C. Green Party candidate Douglas Gook got 607 votes (5.29%).
In late evening speech from the Conservatives election headquarters in Vancouver, Rustad thanked the residents of Nechako Lakes who voted for him along with his staff and volunteers.
Nechako Lakes residents came out on Saturday to cast their ballot to choose their representative in Victoria. In Vanderhoof, the morning had an ominous start with the rainbow crosswalk outside the polling station defaced with messages of 'save the kids' and 'speak truth.'
The voter turnout for BC Elections in Fort St. James was strikingly low, despite the pleasant weather. This is partly owing to many opting for advance voting. The Fort St. James Senior Centre which was open for advanced voting the previous week for a total of four days, saw a very busy line-up.
A record-breaking turnout was seen during advanced voting. Roughly 1,001,331 people cast their ballot during the six days of advanced voting that ended Wednesday, This also marks the first provincial election with new riding boundaries, which increased the number of seats in the legislature to 93 from 87.
