Nelson’s Michelle Mungall romped to a runaway election win yesterday, amassing more votes than her Liberal and Green opponents combined.
The New Democrat MLA for Nelson-Creston will serve her second term, once again as an Opposition member after a Liberal majority win that few could have predicted.
“It’s not what people were saying as I toured around the province,” Mungall said this morning. “I wonder, did people just not show up to vote, thinking the election of an NDP government was a foregone conclusion?”
With 7,576 votes, she easily outdistanced rookie candidates Greg Garbula (4,348 votes) and Sjeng Derkx (3,133 votes), in an election that saw the Christy Clark-led Liberal Party wipe out expectations that a New Democrat government would be elected.
“The polls always said the same thing, regardless of how the information was collected,” Mungall said. “It will take some time to process what happened.”
Disappointment aside, she said she is ready to return to work as the representative for Nelson-Creston.
“I am so grateful for the voters for coming out and giving me another mandate,” she said. “I am committed to continue to work on their behalf.”
She said she and her NDP caucus members would get back to tackling the Jumbo Glacier Resort issue, a development she said people in the Kootenays don’t want.
“The Jumbo municipality is an anti-democratic creation and we are looking forward to pressing the government on an issue that is important to the people of this area,” she said.
Mungall also expressed her dismay over the “seven months of attack ads that said some very nasty, horrible things” about NDP Leader Adrian Dix.
“We ran a very positive and fair campaign, and we followed all the rules,” she said. “I was hoping to hear of a more positive approach from the other parties, but I was disappointed.
“But I am very proud of my team, and I want to thank volunteers of all stripes who care enough about our province to get out and get involved in the election process.”
Only about 52 per cent of eligible voters cast ballots in the 2013 election, only a single percentage point higher than the dismal 2009 turnout.
The low turnout could have been influenced by polls that consistently indicated the NDP would defeat the Liberals after 12 years of majority rule, but Mungall said, “It certainly wasn’t the fault of Elections BC. They did so much to encourage people and make it easy for them to vote. They are to be congratulated for doing a great job.”
Runner-up Greg Garbula, who was taking his first run at public office, told the Nelson Star that he is concerned Nelson-Creston voters won’t be represented in the government.
“I’m not bitter, but I really do feel sad for the communities and people that are really asking for help,” he said yesterday evening. “They have not been getting representation, they have not been getting emails or phone calls answered. Maybe she’s [Mungall] learned from that. Maybe she will come to the point where she will pay more attention to the people of this riding. Really it is about the MLA right now and her political aspirations versus what is best for the riding.”
As of Wednesday morning, the Liberal Party was ahead in 50 ridings, with the NDP leading in 33. Unless absentee ballot counts or recounts change results, one Green party member and one Independent will round out the 85-seat B.C. legislative assembly.
Premier Christy Clark was defeated in her Vancouver-Point Grey riding and will have to convince a Liberal MLA to step down, then win a byelection before she can resume her role as premier.