Letnick top spender in Kelowna
Norm Letnick was the runaway leader in campaign spending among Kelowna and Vernon candidates in last fall’s provincial election.
Letnick, re-elected as Liberal MLA in the riding of Kelowna-Lake Country, had “total inflows” to his campaign of $86,562, according to campaign financial statements now available on the B.C. Elections website.
That amount dwarfed the income reported by other candidates in greater Kelowna and Vernon, including other Liberal contenders.
Liberal Renee Merrifield in KelownaMission had total campaign income of $36,288, and Ben Stewart’s campaign income in Kelowna West was $31,093.
All three LIberal candidates were elected with comfortable margins on Oct. 24.
But having considerable funds to run a campaign was no guarantee of victory. In Vernon-Monashee, the highest campaign income, at $48,311, was reported by incumbent Liberal MLA Eric Foster.
But Foster was defeated by NDP challenger Harwinder Sandhu, whose campaign income was a fraction of his, at just $6,993.
Although the NDP won the provincial election, one of their Kelowna candidates spent next-to-nothing on his campaign, and one of them spent less than a Green candidate.
In Kelowna-Lake Country, NDP contender Justin Kulik reported total campaign income of $613 but total expenditures
of $977. In Kelowna-Mission, Krystal Smith had total campaign income of $4,525, less than half that reported by Green contender Amanda Poon, at $10,985.
Kulik was a university student and Smith does not live in Kelowna.
In Kelowna West, NDP candidate Spring Hawes reported total campaign income of $4,037, and total expenditures of $3,535.
Here are the campaign incomes and expenditures for some other local candidates:
— John Janmaat, Greens, KelownaLake Country - $4,975, $4,740
— Peter Truch, Greens, Kelowna West, $3,950, $3,191
— Kyle Delfing, BC Conservative, Vernon Monashee, $3,710, $3,600
— Kelli Westgate, Greens, Vernon Monashee, $9,698, $9,716
In Penticton, Dan Ashton was the biggest spender in the last provincial election, claiming $40,258 in election expenses.
Financial disclosures from the 2020 provincial election were released Monday.
The majority Ashton spent was on local advertising which included print, radio, television and some online news services. Ashton did not open an office for this campaign due to COVID-19 and it was run entirely by volunteers.
According to the financial disclosures, Ashton’s biggest private contributors were Phil Locke and Robin Agur, with donations of $1,250 each and Hugo Deuschle with $750.
NDP challenger Toni Boot spent $14,418. Her expenses include $2,800 in salary for campaign worker Tina Lee, $1,000 for office space on Martin Street in Penticton plus $1,700 to Burnaby-based businesses Prism Graphics and Thunderbird Press.
Challengers Keith MacIntyre (Libertarian) and Ted Shumaker (Green) spent $280 and $19, respectively. (The mandatory $250 candidate deposit was not included in their numbers.)
Ashton was re-elected as MLA in the Penticton riding, which includes Peachland, with 13,217 votes and about 48.2% of the total vote. Boot, whose party formed a majority government, was second with 10,343 votes and 37.7% of votes cast.
In Boundary-Similkameen, BC Liberal candidate Petra Veintimilla had $55,357 in election expenses. Roly Russell, the winning NDP candidate, spent almost half with total expenses at $28,370.