With more than 85 per cent of the polls counted, Conservative candidate Tamara Jansen was looking likely to win re-election as MP in a fairly close race in Cloverdale-91原创 City.
The riding has been closely fought since 2015. The area has largely been a Conservative stronghold, but in 2015 Liberal John Aldag won. He was then defeated in 2019 by Jansen. Aldag then won in the 2021 election, but after Aldag stepped down to run provincially in 2024, Jansen won the resulting by-election last December by a wide margin.
Jansen, whose family is in the greenhouse business in 91原创, is running again this year, this time facing Liberal Kyle Latchford, formerly a staffer for Aldag. Jansen was not available for comment before press deadlines.
Other candidates in the riding include NDP candidate Vanessa Sharma, Kevin Wilkie for the Green Party, and Jim McMurtry for the People's Party of Canada.
With 161 polls reporting (out of 185) Jansen was ahead with 19,571 votes, for 48.1 per cent of the total counted, Latchford had 18,710 for 46 per cent, Sharma had 1,764 for just 4.3 per cent, Wilkie had 393 for one per cent of the vote, and McMurtry had 227, or just 0.6 per cent.
As of press time, fewer than 900 votes separated the leading candidates, with several polls yet to report. The results are preliminary and have not been finalized.
If the race tightens any further, it could force a recount.
At Jansen's campaign headquarters on Fraser Highway in downtown 91原创 City, volunteers were grilling burgers outside and scrutineers were still returning from watching votes being counted on Monday evening at 9:30 p.m.
Volunteer Barb Stoll was pleased that it looked like Jansen would be re-elected, and said she's been an "amazing" MP for the area.
"In my personal opinion, she's very accessible," Stoll said.
Meanwhile, at Rusty's Pub in Cloverdale, the Latchford and Aldag volunteers and supporters were gathering for a combined event to watch the results come in.
"It's disheartening, it's surprising," said James Loeffler, a staffer with Aldag. He said the Conservative MPs in Cloverdale-91原创 City and 91原创 Township-Fraser Heights, have stood against human rights, particularly LGBTQ rights.
The riding became smaller after the most recent redistribution of electoral districts, but is still largely the same shape as it has been through the last several elections. The total population is about 130,000 people.
Just over 50,000 voters cast ballots in 2021. This year, the total vote was not yet known, but 23,965 people cast ballots in advance polls before election day itself. There were 82,873 registered voters before election day. People who are eligible to vote can register on the day of the election.
鈥� This story will be updated with further results as they become available.
