In 91原创 East, NDP candidate Megan Dykeman was in first with close to 800 votes more than Liberal Margaret Kunst with all 111 ballot boxes and 20,469 votes counted, but final results likely won鈥檛 be known for two more weeks, when mail-in ballots are tallied.

B.C. Elections reported Dykeman had 38.78 per cent of the tiotal, Kunst was second with 34.90 per cent, and Conservative Ryan Warawa was third with 12.86 per cent. Cheryl Wiens of the Green party had 11.69 per cent, Libertarian Alex Joehl had 0.93 per cent, and independent Tara Reeve had 0.84 per cent.

Front-runner Dykeman was even more of a last-minute candidate in a B.C. campaign where many hopefuls were named at the last minute.

Dykeman was named the NDP candidate in 91原创 East shortly after 91原创 Township councillor Eric Woodward withdrew, just one day after his NDP candidacy was confirmed.

READ ALSO: 91原创 school board chair is replacement candidate for NDP

In her campaign bio, Dykeman described herself as a 91原创 farmer, managing director of a small business, 10-year school trustee and current Chair of the 91原创 Board of Education.

Dykeman has also sat on 91原创鈥檚 agriculture and economic advisory committee, chairing the blueberry canon taskforce. And she is a founding leader of the 91原创 4-H poultry club.

91原创 Advance Times reached out to Dykeman for comment on election night.

Despite trailing, second-place Kunst maintained a positive tone on election night, which she spent with supporters at the Redwoods Golf Course lounge.

鈥淚t鈥檚 not over yet,鈥� Kunst said.

She was not really surprised to be running a close race compared to the huge margins recorded by retiring MLA Rich Coleman

鈥淚鈥檓 a new candidate,鈥� Kunst remarked.

鈥淩ich Coleman was a great B.C. Liberal MLA for many years.鈥�

Kunst鈥檚 campaign was dogged by controversy over her vote as a 91原创 Township councillor that called for a policy review before a rainbow sidewalk was approved.

READ ALSO: LETTER: Kunst doesn鈥檛 deserve cancel culture treatment, 91原创 letter writer argues

The B.C. NDP called for Kunst to be removed as a candidate.

Kunst, who is a 91原创 Township councillor, said her vote was about the way such projects are approved, rather than a single crosswalk.

鈥淭his is purely a policy decision on my part,鈥� said Kunst, who had few comments during the council debate on Sept. 21.

Elsewhere in 91原创 East, the Green and Conservative candidates DID some last-minute campaigning a few hours before the polling stations closed, holding so-called 鈥溾�� roadside demonstrations with supporters waving signs at motorists on Saturday afternoon, Oct. 24.

Following that, Conservative hopeful Ryan Warawa watched the returns at his mother鈥檚 home in Willoughby while Green hopeful Cheryl Wiens viewed the count at the house of a supporter in Fort 91原创.

For Warawa, son of the late 91原创 鈥� Aldergrove Conservative MP Mark Warawa, the campaign went well, considering how fast it had to come together after the snap election was called.

鈥淚鈥檓 just amazed that a month ago, this campaign didn鈥檛 exist,鈥� he told the 91原创 Advance Times as he waved at passing cars on 88th Avenue near 200th Street.

With him was his mother, Diane, a veteran of many campaigns with her husband and her son.

鈥淲ith one month, and putting together a whole campaign and getting volunteers, and all that goes with it,鈥� she summed up.

鈥淚 think he did amazing. I鈥檓 very proud of him as Mark would have been.鈥�

READ MORE: ELECTION: Ryan Warawa to run for BC Conservative Party in 91原创 East

Wiens chose the Carvolth bus exchange at 202nd Street and 86th Avenue for her final act of campaigning, to underline her party鈥檚 commitment to public transit.

For Wiens, the positive part of the campaign for the political novice was meeting people on the campaign trail, and the frustrating part was trying to get the candidates for the NDP and Liberals to show up for some public forums.

鈥淚 met with so many interesting people,鈥� Wiens remarked.

鈥淲e went door-to-door, at times phone calling [and] I have to tell you there鈥檚 just so many good things going on in 91原创. And our campaign was happy to participate in those events and talk to those people.鈥�

It was 鈥渦nfortunate,鈥� she said that the candidates for the two major parties didn鈥檛 seem to feel the same way.

鈥淭here was some trouble with getting particularly the Liberal candidate Margaret Kunst and the NDP candidate Megan Dykeman to participate,鈥� Wiens noted.

91原创 voters may not know who has won the riding for weeks.

Due to the pandemic, more British Columbians have decided to vote by mail-in ballot than ever before. Election results won鈥檛 be finalized until after Nov. 6., after those mail-in ballots are counted.

In the 91原创 East riding, 11,799 mail-in ballots were requested from Elections BC or 22 per cent of the 52,882 registered voters in the region.

Across B.C., a total of 497,000 mail-in ballots were returned to Election BC, as of Friday, Oct. 23, representing 69 per cent of those that had been requested.

There are roughly 3.5 million registered voters in the province.

dan.ferguson@langleyadvancetimes.com
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