New Democrats’ share of popular vote down in Central Okanagan
Drop in support for NDP attributed to party’s focus on ‘urban priorities’ during campaign
An orange wave may have rolled across parts of Vancouver, but the NDP’s fortunes actually ebbed slightly in the Central Okanagan in Tuesday’s provincial election.
The party’s share of the popular vote declined in all three Kelownaarea ridings from 2013 levels, by an average of five per cent.
In Kelowna-Lake Country, the NDP barely stayed ahead of the Greens for second place behind Liberal winner Norm Letnick.
Two of the three NDP candidates — Erik Olesen and Harwinder Sandhu — were contenders with no public profile and few community connections heading into the election.
Shelley Cook, a former executive director of the local John Howard Society, was more recognizable and fared the best of the three local NDP candidates, receiving 24.8 per cent of the vote in Kelowna West.
While provincially the Greens will hold the balance of power in what’s currently projected to be a minority Liberal government, two of their three Kelowna-area candidates won a smaller share of the local vote than the party did across B.C.
The local Greens averaged 15.6 of the vote, while the NDP claimed 22 per cent, and the incumbent Liberals — Christy Clark, Steve Thomson and Letnick — were reelected with 59.1 per cent of the vote, slightly more than the three received four years ago.
The NDP’s drop in support among Kelowna voters may be more of a one-off than an event that portends a struggle for the party to stay ahead of the Greens in the Central Okanagan, one political observer says.
“The slight drop in support for the NDP in the Okanagan, while seeing a growth in Metro Vancouver, is likely attributable to the primary focus of the NDP in this campaign on urban priorities such as removing bridge tolls and the renter rebate, which clearly resonated with many of those voters,” said Carey Doberstein, an assistant professor of political science at UBC Okanagan.
“Meanwhile, the Liberals provided an unambiguous message to voters in the Interior about resource development and the current trade dispute with the U.S.,” Doberstein said.
After he was one of the first Liberals to be declared re-elected on Tuesday, Thomson said: “Regardless of which way you voted, I’m going to continue to represent all the citizens of Kelowna Mission.”