Loewen declares victory

UPDATE: 11:15 p.m.

Conservative Kristina Loewen has declared victory in the Kelowna Centre riding.

Loewen took victory over BC NDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge by just 147 votes with all ballot boxes reporting.

She addressed supporters at the Mid-Town Station restaurant just before 11 p.m.

"With the margin that I have, I am excited to represent the people of Kelowna Centre. This is such an honour 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.

"First and foremost, I am going to be a listener. I think the most important thing that government can do is listen to its constituents, and that is why I ran my campaign at your doors. We knocked on over 10,000 doors as a campaign," she added.

UPDATE: 10:15 p.m.

The winner of Kelowna Centre has yet to be decided, with the results from one ballot box still being counted.

What's clear, however, is that it's a painfully close race between the BC NDP candidate and the BC Conservative.

Independent candidate Dr. Michael Humer was out of contention early, getting only 10 per cent of the vote— beating out BC Green Bryce Tippe—with 2,526 ballots cast in his favour.

Winning as an independent is a tall order and one that nobody was able to pull off Saturday night, though their impact was likely felt.

In the end, Humer said that the race results look a lot like what happened in the 2017 election. With the BCNDP thus far having 46 seats, the BC Conservatives taking 45, the Green party taking two, no party has been given a clear mandate to lead.

"I will be watching with as much interest as anyone else," he said.

"They always say that B.C. politics are interesting and they'll continue to be interesting... I think it will be days or weeks before we have a final understanding of (what the results) will be."

UPDATE 9:37 p.m.

Kelowna's newest riding has offered the tightest race in the Okanagan this provincial election but nearing the end, the BC Conservative candidate has taken the lead.

BCNDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge and BC Conservative candidate Kristina Lowen had a nail-bitingly close race, with Wooldridge

With only one ballot box left Wooldridge has 10,485 votes and Loewen has 10,602 votes.

UPDATE 9:15 p.m.

Kelowna's newest riding has added some excitement to a historically conservative-leaning region of the province.

BCNDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge and BC Conservative candidate Kristina Lowen are neck and neck in Kelowna Centre.

With only two ballot boxes left Wooldridge has 10,240 votes and Loewen has 10,257 votes.

Unless a resounding lead comes in the next while, a recount will be in the future.

Elections BC says all ballots considered at initial count "will be recounted if preliminary results show a difference of 100 votes or fewer between the top two candidates in the electoral district."

This is called a district electoral officer recount.

UPDATE 8:45 p.m.

Despite more votes being accounted for, the race in Kelowna Centre remains tight.

With 80 per cent of ballots being counted, BCNDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge still has 42.96 per cent of the votes, with Kristina Loewen having 42.49 per cent of the votes.

UPDATE 8:15 p.m.

The polls have closed and an early look at the results show a tight race between BCNDP candidate Loyal Wooldridge and B.C. Conservative Kristina Lowen.

With results from just eight of 21 ballot boxes accounted for, Wooldridge has 42 per cent of the vote versus 42 per cent for Lowen.

The mood at the campaign office for Wooldridge is upbeat, with Wooldridge campaign manager Jessica Samuels saying it's been a frenzy of excitement and anticipation.

"We want to make a historic difference in Kelowna Centre," Samuels said. "We are excited."

ORIGINAL 5 p.m.

There are four candidates vying to be an MLA in the Central Okanagan's newest riding, Kelowna Centre.

The riding, which is parts of the previous riding Kelowna West, Kelowna-Mission and Kelowna-Lake Country, was created in recent years when the region's growing population dictated change.

Running for the NDP is Loyal Wooldridge, the Conservative candidate is Kristina Loewen, the Green Party has Bryce Tippe and Dr. Michael Humer is running as an independent.

This story will be updated with results as they come in.

Loyal Wooldridge

For the past six years, Loyal Wooldridge has occupied a seat on Kelowna city council.

He hopes to take that knowledge and experience to Victoria as the first ever NDP MLA from the City of Kelowna.

“I’ve been doing the work on council the last two terms with the intention to eventually run provincially, to really understand our city from a grass roots level,” Wooldridge told Castanet News during a one-on-one interview.

“I know our challenges, but I also know the solutions to overcome them. And, regardless of party, it’s about choosing the person that knows our city best, that lives here, that does the work and can get to work on day one to advocate for Kelowna.”

Dr. Michael Humer

In 1995, Dr. Michael Humer interviewed for his first job to be a thoracic surgeon in Prince George. Now, nearly 30 years later, he is interviewing for a new job with a new career path, MLA for Kelowna Centre.

Once the candidate for the BC United party, he is now running as an independent.

“This new job interview…wow democracy has been fascinating,” Humer told Castanet News during a one-on-one interview.

“I retired after 28 years of thoracic surgery a year ago and specifically I retired from chief of surgery (at KGH) to address health care, to look at getting better health care in British Columbia and running in the new Kelowna Centre riding.

“So, here we are as I continue as an unaffiliated independent candidate trying to make sure everyone has a voice and everyone has someone to vote for.”

Bryce Tippe

Bryce Tippe touts himself as a different kind of politician.

Entering the political arena for the first time as the Green Party candidate in the new Kelowna Centre riding, Tippe says people shouldn’t make assumptions about him based on his party affiliation.

“I think my biggest challenge when I talk to the constituents is assuring them that I’m not just caring about climate and can also prioritize other things,” said Tippe during a one-on-one interview with Castanet News.

“I am not an ideologue motivated by some arbitrary ideology. I am a serious person who has a lot of great ideas for British Columbia policy-wise, and I would love to be able to be given the chance to apply that.”

Kristina Loewen

Conservative candidate Kristina Loewen is a local real estate agent. She declined an opportunity to speak with Castanet.

The Kelowna Chamber of Commerce held a candidates forum where three of the four candidates spoke about a wide variety of issues, although Loewen did not attend.