With the final results of the 2020 BC provincial election published last week, little changed for Abbotsford West and South Liberals Bruce Banman and Mike de Jong.
Banman, Abbotsford South’s MLA elect, took 44.69 per cent of the vote, with NDP candidate Inder Johal trailing by 10 per cent.
Green candidate Aird Flavelle received 12 per cent while Christian Heritage leader Laura-Lynn Thompson took 7.80.
In total, Banman took 9,730 of 21,773 votes cast.
Banman takes the place of Liberal Darryl Plecas, who announced he would not seek re-election earlier in the year.
There are 44,896 registered voters in Abbbotsford South and 7,425 vote-by-mail packages were issued.
READ MORE: Final vote results confirm NDP victory in Langley and Langley East ridings
In Abbotsford West, which covers sections of North Langley and Glen Valley, the Liberal incumbent held on to his riding, which he’s served since 1994.
He won the riding with 45 per cent of the vote.
NDP candidate Preet Rai took 36 per cent while Conservative Michael Henshall earned 9 per cent, Green candidate Kevin Eastwood took 8 per cent, and B.C. Vision candidate Sukhi Gill failed to take in half a per cent.
In total, de Jong earned 8,880 of 19,511 votes cast.
A total of 5,231 vote-by-mail packages were requested in that riding, which consists of 39,087 eligible voters.
In Langley East, NDP Megan Dykeman took that riding with 42.56 per cent, 13,169 of 30,941 total votes, including mail-in ballots, outpointing Liberal Margaret Kunst, who finished second with 33.56 per cent or 10,385 votes.
There were close to 11,000 mail-in ballots in Langley East, potentially enough to change the outcome of election night, when both New Democrats finished first.
The NDP candidate improved her winning margin from just under 800 to just under 3,000
Dykeman was a last-minute candidate, replacing Township councillor Eric Woodward, who first accepted the nomination, then withdrew a day later, citing what he described as “truly horrible, false personal attacks from a small nasty group.”
For the province-wide total, BC NDP ended up taking 57 seats for a majority government, while 28 went to the Liberals and two for the Greens.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a record 664,000 vote-by-mail ballots were cast.
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Email: ryan.uytdewilligen@aldergrovestar.com
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