B.C. not short of tight races in 43rd federal election
Posted October 21, 2019 11:09 pm.
Last Updated October 21, 2019 11:57 pm.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – There were a fair share of tight races in B.C. on election day.
At one point, the Port Moody-Coquitlam riding was one of the tightest races locally, and it was won by a candidate criticized as parachuting in from Ontario.
In the buildup to this campaign, we had heard from a local man who said he had attempted to win the Conservative nomination, only to be pushed aside for Nelly Shin. That followed Shin herself being shunted to the side in an Ontario riding where she had initially planned to run.
But, it was a gamble that paid off for the Tories, which, through Shin, won the riding from the NDP.
This riding has been incredibly close all night and has been kissing that 0.1 percent gap which would trigger an automatic recount. Conservative Nelly Shin currently up 0.1 percent on New Democrat Bonita Zarrillo. #cdnpoli #elx43 #CanadaVotes2019 https://t.co/w2GeiqM7Ce
— Martin MacMahon (@martinmacmahon) October 22, 2019
It wasn’t a sure thing, though. For part of the night, NDP candidate Bonita Zarrillo was in the lead — and indeed the gap was at one point within a 0.1 per cent range, which could have triggered an automatic recount.
The Liberals, too, claimed nearly a third of the ridings votes.
This Port Moody-Coquitlam riding, of course, was at one point held by high-profile Conservative James Moore, so it does have a history of going blue.
RELATED: Multiple B.C. ridings flip from red to blue
Entering the election, incumbent NDP MP Fin Donnelly chose not to run.
Meantime, Cloverdale-Langley City was also close for a time, before Conservative candidate Tamara Jansen pulled ahead with a wide margin, defeating Liberal incumbent John Aldag.
In Coquitlam-Port Coquitlam, the riding was close to call until the end. There, Liberal Ron McKinnon held on to keep his seat, going head-to-head with Conservative Nicholas Insley.