Tight race anticipated in Central Okanagan
Liberal candidate Sarah Eves is running neck-and-neck with Conservative incumbent Dan Albas in the riding of Central Okanagan-Similkameen-Nicola, according to poll aggregator 338Canada.com.
In its latest projection issued Aug. 1, the website predicts 32.1% support for Albas in the next federal election, followed closely by Eves at 31.5%.
The spread between the two candidates has been steadily closing from about 7% as of a month ago, which Eves believes is a testament to the work her team has been doing on the ground.
Eves said supporters have placed “thousands” of phone calls on her behalf and turned to social media to get the vote out, with less emphasis on in-person interactions due to COVID-19.
Voters, she continued, seem most concerned with two issues: the federal government’s COVID-19 response and climate change.
Eves suggested the Liberals have managed both files well while in government, a claim the Opposition Conservatives can’t make, especially since its members voted in March to reject a policy proposal that would have acknowledged climate change is real.
“Voters are putting their support behind the Liberal government and we’re seeing that in the polls,” she said.
While speculation is rampant that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will call an election this month, Eves insists she’s in the dark on that like everyone else.
“I do not want an election anytime soon because this riding is so big geographically and doing outreach on such a large riding is a lot of work and I want as much time as possible to actually go out and talk to people,” added Eves, who works as a special education teacher in Merritt and won the Liberal nomination for COSN by acclamation in April.
The riding includes parts of Kelowna, Summerland, West Kelowna, Olalla, Keremeos, Peachland, Princeton, Merritt and Logan Lake.
Albas, who has held the riding since 2015, cruised to victory in the 2019 federal election with 48% support, followed by then-Liberal candidate Mary Ann Murphy at 25%.
Prior to the vote, 338Canada had Albas in the lead with 40% support on a margin of error of 8.4%, meaning its projection held true.
In the neighbouring riding of South Okanagan-West Kootenay, 338Canada has NDP incumbent Richard Cannings safely in the lead at 45% support, with the Conservatives trailing at 25% and the Liberals at 20%.
Cannings, who has held the riding since 2017, won re-election in 2019 with 36% of the popular vote, narrowly edging out Conservative candidate Helena Konanz, who registered 35%
Prior to the vote, 338Canada had Cannings in the lead with 38% support on a margin of error of 9%, meaning the website correctly called that race, too.