Stamer declared winner

UPDATE: 9:53 p.m.

Ward Stamer became emotional during his acceptance speech on Saturday, not long after he was declared the victor in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding.

Stamer cruised to victory, collecting about 60 per cent of the riding’s vote — nearly 30 points ahead of Maddi Genn of the BC NDP.

“I find this is really emotional, but the reality is we’ve got a job to do, and that’s why Peter and I got into this with this party,” he said. "God willing, we’re going to form government.”

Peter Milobar, who was elected MLA for Kamloops Centre, said he and Stamer will represent the Kamloops region well in Victoria. Stamer echoed that sentiment.

“Like Peter said, this is Team Kamloops,” Stamer said. "We’re here for you."

UPDATE: 9:18 p.m.

Maddi Genn was not victorious on Saturday night, but she feels like she left everything out on the campaign trail.

Genn had captured about a third of the vote in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding by the time she addressed BC NDP supporters at Red Beard on Tranquille Road a little after 9 p.m. She finished in second place, well behind B.C. Conservative Ward Stamer, who has been declared the winner.

"The reality is we all worked so closely together and it paid off,” she said.

"We might not have won, and that’s fine, because we all know that we did absolutely everything we could to talk to every single voter, and make sure this is a democratic process, and make sure every single voter knew exactly who and what they are voting for.”

As of 9:15 p.m., Genn’s 8,000 votes were well shy of Stamer’s 14,718, good for about 60 per cent with 35 of 40 polls reporting.

UPDATE: 8:28 p.m.

Ward Stamer has been declared the new MLA for Kamloops-North Thompson.

The B.C. Conservative candidate has captured nearly 60 per cent of the vote just before 8:30 p.m., with nearly 18,000 ballots counted.

UPDATE: 8:17 p.m.

Early results have the B.C. Conservatives leading by a comfortable margin in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding.

Not long after polls closed, initial results showed B.C. Conservative candidate Ward Stamer with a 28-point lead over the BC NDP’s Maddi Genn — with fewer than 5,000 votes counted.

UPDATE: 7:59 p.m.

BC Green candidate Tristan Cavers says he hopes this year’s election will see his party attract more votes than it has in the past.

Speaking with Castanet from Timber Shuswap, a restaurant in Blind Bay, Cavers said he’s feeling optimistic for the BC Green Party.

“The super optimistic farmer — which these days, you have to be pretty super optimistic all the time — would be like, ‘It would be amazing if I won and went to Victoria,’” Cavers said.

“The more pragmatic part of me, it would be really awesome if we move the ball down the field, and increased the percentage of votes for the Greens in our riding. So that’s a big goal.”

Cavers took up the challenge to gather enough signatures just a day before the deadline in order to keep the BC Greens on the ballot in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding.

The farmer and volunteer firefighter said he spent election day doing first aid drills and techniques as he seeks Canadian Ski Patrol re-certification.

Cavers said he took advantage of the advanced polls to cast his ballot, and has seen a “steady stream” of voters.

“I'm encouraged by the fact that even before Friday morning, more than a million British Columbians had voted. So regardless of the outcome, it seems like we're on on better democratic footing than the way it has been,” he said.

UPDATE: 7:23 p.m.

Ward Stamer is feeling confident in both himself and his party as he arrives at Cascades Casino, where he and fellow Kamloops B.C. Conservative candidate Peter Milobar will be watching the results of the election roll in.

“Hopefully the deck is stacked,” Stamer told Castanet as he walked to the party at the casino.

“I feel really good.”

About 50 people were on hand at the B.C. Conservatives event inside the casino when Castanet arrived just before 7:30 p.m.

Stamer said he feels he ran a strong, positive election campaign and, while he has no idea how the results will shake out, he noted pollster 338Canada is predicting a wide margin of victory for him.

Provincially, Stamer said he predicts the B.C. Conservatives will end the night with a slim majority government.

He said the record number of advance poll numbers, which saw more than a million British Columbians cast a ballot ahead of election night, is a good sign that people want change — which, he said, could mean more votes for his party.

UPDATE: 5:48 p.m.

No matter the results of tonight’s election, Kamloops-North Thompson BC NDP candidate Maddi Genn says she’s proud of her team’s efforts.

Genn said she plans to be out knocking on the doors of potential voters alongside fellow BC NDP candidate Kamal Grewal, running in Kamloops Centre. She said volunteers and her campaign team will be out until polls close at 8 p.m.

She said she’s cautiously optimistic.

“I’m trying to go into this without any expectations,” she said.

“It would be silly if I wasn't at least a little bit nervous. But overall, I think I'm excited. I'm really proud of the work that my team and I have have put in, no matter the result.”

If she wins, Genn said she’ll have little time to celebrate before racing off to work a night shift as a youth worker.

ORIGINAL STORY: 5:20 p.m.

Once the polls have closed and the dust has settled a few hours from now, the three candidates in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding will see where they stand.

B.C. Conservative candidate Ward Stamer was the first to announce he’d be running in the redrawn riding last fall.

Stamer, 62, is a former logging contractor who was first elected to Barriere town council following incorporation in 2007 and then successfully ran for mayor in 2018 and again in 2022. He said he would resign as mayor if elected as MLA.

Youth worker and active union member Maddi Genn is carrying the NDP flag in the Kamloops-North Thompson.

When introduced to reporters during the summer, Genn said she intends to stand out from more established candidates. She said stepping into politics was bound to happen eventually and felt being a newcomer could work to her advantage.

Taking up the challenge to gather enough signatures just a day before the deadline in order to keep the BC Greens on the ballot in the Kamloops-North Thompson riding, Tristan Cavers joined the race at the 11th hour.

Cavers is a farmer and volunteer firefighter who has held several board positions, including the chair of the Kamloops Farmers' Market and a member of the Chase Chamber of Commerce.

Voters have until 8 p.m. to cast their ballot. There are 29 polling locations across the Kamloops-North Thompson riding.

This story will be updated throughout the evening, with results and reaction after the polls close. Check back for updates.