It was a horse race right to the bitter end but Jodie Wickens is the first NDP candidate to win in Coquitlam-Burke Mountain since the riding’s inception in 2009.
The polls were close for most of the night but Wickens started to pull away after 80 of the 90 ballot boxes had been counted. When the last votes were tallied, she was ahead with 3,562 (46.24%) over BC Liberal candidate Joan Isaacs with 2,936 (38.11%). Green Party candidate Joe Keithley finished the night with 1,061 votes while Libertarian Paul Geddes garnered 145 votes.
"Now the hard work begins," Wickens said to supporters at a packed Pasta Polo restaurant in Coquitlam. "People who know me well know that I don't break my promises."
Flanked by NDP leader John Horgan, Wickens thanked her supporters, family and opponents. She said she would be a strong voice for the riding and specifically mentioned issues such as schools, public transit and affordability.
"[BC Liberal Premier] Christy Clark is failing this community," Wickens said. "She is failing this province and we are one step closer to electing John Horgan as our premier in 2017."
Wickens will join fellow BC NDP candidate Melanie Mark, who was elected in Vancouver-Mount Pleasant in the day's other byelection.
Over at Westwood Plateau Golf and Country Club, Isaacs told the crowd of about 100 supporters she plans to run for the BC Liberals in next year's general election.
Isaacs said she was disappointed with tonight's results, saying, "A few more votes would have done it" — a comment on the low voter turnout. She and her campaign team were not shocked by the loss given that governing parties historically don't tend to win byelections.
She congratulated Wickens "who ran a strong campaign" as well as Keithley and Geddes "for putting their names forward."
Among those who heard Isaacs' concession speech was the riding's former MLA Doug Horne, who last summer stepped down to run federally for the Conservatives.
"Byelections are very difficult," he said. "There was not a lot of interest. People just didn't come out."
As for his future, Horne said he's still considering another run for the federal seat after losing to Liberal Ron McKinnon.
After the results were announced, Premier Christy Clark used social media to tweet her thanks to Isaacs and Gavin Dew, the Vancouver-Mt. Pleasant BC Liberal candidate.
The final count of the two byelections will be announced Feb. 9.
