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Vernon-Monashee hasn't elected an NDP MLA since 1984 - can Harwinder Sandhu change that?

36 years since last NDP win

The voters have spoken – but what did they say? In Vernon-Monashee, that won't be known until mid-November.

With the results of Saturday's provincial election still up in the air in Vernon-Monashee, there's a real possibility the riding could elect an NDP MLA for the first time in more than 30 years.

After the dust settled on Saturday night, three-time incumbent Eric Foster with the BC Liberals had a razor-thin lead on BC NDP challenger Harwinder Sandhu.

The two were separated by just 180 votes – 6,798 for Foster, and 6,618 for Sandhu.

That equals a 35.06-34.13 per cent split in the popular vote, making Vernon-Monashee one of the closest races in all of British Columbia. Only the Richmond South riding was tighter.

With more than half a million mail-in ballots still to be counted across the province, all Sandhu and Foster can do is wait.

Meanwhile, a look back at past elections shows right-of-centre parties have had a lock on the North Okanagan for decades.

The NDP have perennially come in a distant second since the party last elected an NDP candidate in the North Okanagan back in the 1984 byelection.

Foster garnered 47.87 per cent of the vote in the 2017 provincial election, handily beating NDP rival Barry Dorval by more than 5,000 votes.

In 2013, Foster was similarly dominant, with 46.34 per cent of the vote to 34.22 per cent for Mark Olsen.

First elected in 2009, Foster earned a 37.27 per cent share, compared to Olsen's 31.83.

Prior to Foster, the riding, which has changed names from Okanagan-North to Okanagan-Vernon, and now Vernon-Monashee, elected several right-wing candidates.

Those include the BC Liberals' Tom Christensen in 2005 and 2001, and before him, April Sanders in 1996.

Former Vernon mayor Lyall Hanson represented the riding for the Social Credit Party in 1994, 1991, and 1986, serving twice as a cabinet minister, in the Labour and Municipal Affairs portfolios.

So, it's a long way back to 1984, when Lyle MacWilliam last held the riding for the NDP.

MacWilliam ran unsuccessfully in the 1983 provincial election, then was elected in a 1984 byelection following the death of Donald Campbell. MacWilliam held the seat for a single term, losing to Hanson in 1986.

He went on to win the Okanagan-Shuswap federal seat in the 1988 federal election, only to lose it to Darrel Stinson of the Reform Party in 1993.

Foster characterized Saturday's election as "a real nail-biter."

"I feel bad about the provincial results, but this race is so close I'm by no means out of the woods," he said.

Sandhu, a registered nurse at Vernon Jubilee Hospital, ran for the NDP in the 2019 federal election, and also in the 2017 provincial election in the Kelowna-Mission riding.

She's been a longtime volunteer with the NDP both provincially and federally.

"Every vote is important and every vote should be counted," Sandhu said after Saturday's inconclusive result. "I am looking forward to the announcement of the complete results."

Also running in Vernon-Monashee were Keli Westgate with 16.22 per cent of the vote, and BC Conservative Kyle Delfing Conservative with 14.59 per cent.



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