John Horgan and his B.C. NDP bet big in calling a snap election and took home the big prize.
Horgan’s New Democrats are poised to form a majority government following the October 24, 2020 provincial election.
Meanwhile, B.C. NDP member Mable Elmore won her fourth term as Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Vancouver-Kensington.
Two other Filipino Canadian candidates failed in their respective bids for seats in the legislative assembly.
Jaeden Dela Torre lost as B.C. NDP candidate in Richmond North Centre.
Cyrus Sy ran with the Greens in New Westminster, and failed.
Elmore holds the record of being the first politician of Filipino heritage to get elected as B.C. MLA.
Elmore was first elected in 2009.
Premier-elect John Horgan on October 25 said he will wait for the final count before recalling the B.C. Legislature to get back to work in Victoria.
Half a million mail-in ballots are yet to be counted.
Preliminary election night results give the NDP a majority government with 55 seats, a 14-seat gain over 2017.
The BC Liberals received 29 seats, a 12-seat drop since 2017.
The BC Greens won three, same as in 2017.
“For three-and-a-half years we focused on the needs of all British Columbians,” Horgan said. “I think the reason our message resonated in Richmond, resonated in Langley is that we are talking about things that matter to those families; seniors care, child care, education, health care, transportation.”
The NDP’s prior minority government, which held onto power and passed legislation only with Green support, required every single vote in order to move forward with its priorities.
Horgan said forestry was among the issues he will tackle for rural B.C. communities.
One key $1.4-billion election promise, the $1,000 direct deposit to households making up to $125,000 and individuals making up to $62,500, won’t be coming just yet.
Across B.C., a total of 497,900 mail-in ballots were returned to Election BC, as of October 23.
B.C. Liberal leader Andrew Wilkinson announced on October 26 that he will step down as leader of the party following his party’s projected loss.
Wilkinson said he will stay on until a new leader is chosen.
Elections B.C. estimated that at least 52.4 percent of registered voters voted in the 2020 provincial election.
A total of 670,324 voters voted in their electoral district during the advance voting period, and 546,877 voters voted on election day at their assigned voting place.
As of September 26, there were 3,485,858 registered voters in B.C.
In the 2017 election, 61.18 percent