Tories strong in B.C. Interior

While the provincial election is too close to call, the BC Conservatives dominated in the Interior.

In Kelowna, three out of the four ridings had a clear winner shortly after the polls closed.

In a nail-biting finish, Conservative Kristina Loewen declared victory in the Kelowna Centre riding, winning by just under 150 votes. BC NDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge finished a close second.

"With the margin that I have, I am excited to represent the people of Kelowna Centre. This is such an honor for me, and I am so grateful. I chose to stand up, speak up, and do a difficult thing. This has been a grassroots movement, and tonight we defeated the NDP," Loewen said.

Gavin Dew, MLA-elect for the Kelowna-Mission riding, says he's feeling "fantastic" after winning the seat dominantly Saturday evening.

“I'm so thankful to have the family support network that I have to make this possible,” Dew said.

BC Conservative candidate Tara Armstrong won in the Kelowna-Lake Country-Coldstream riding. In the West Kelowna - Peachland riding, BC Conservative Macklin McCall won easily.

In Kamloops, incumbent Conservative MLA for the Kamloops-Centre riding, Peter Milobar, was named victorious, and Conservative Ward Stamer was also declared the winner for the Kamloops-North Thompson riding.

“I find this 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 a government," Stamer added.

The top two candidates in the Vernon-Lumby riding both say the race is too tight to call on election night.

NDP incumbent Harwinder Sandhu and BC Conservative Dennis Giesbrecht have yet to declare victory or concede.

BC Conservative David Williams was declared MLA in the Salmon Arm-Shuswap riding.

The NDP swept in the Nelson region. Brittny Anderson was re-elected in the Kootenay Central riding, and Steve Morrissette won in Kootenay Monashee.

In the South Okanagan, the Conservatives won both seats.

Conservative Party candidate Amelia Boultbee narrowly won the role of MLA for the Penticton-Summerland riding. She was neck-and-neck with contender Tina Lee (NDP) throughout the evening.

"It has been such an emotional rollercoaster; I am so relieved," Boultbee said.

Donegal Wilson, BC Conservative, has been declared the winner in Boundary-Similkameen.

It's still unclear whether there will be a majority or minority government in the province, and the answer is likely to take days before it becomes clear.