Hours after polls closed Tuesday evening, Surrey’s nine provincial ridings made it look like a divided city.
BC New Democrats won its northernmost ridings, and BC Liberals won its southernmost ridings.
Somewhere in the middle, near Panorama and Cloverdale, it was one apiece.
Earlier in the evening, with just one of 107 polls reporting in Surrey-White Rock at 8:30 p.m., BC Liberal Tracy Redies led BC New Democrat Niovi Patsicakis by a single vote, 54-53. However, a second poll a moment later increased Redies’ lead to 135-90.
By 9:13 p.m., with 43 polls reporting, Redies was ahead 4,215-2,738.
Despite some media outlets declaring Redies the victor early in the evening, her supporters on the floor noted they’re still waiting for the numbers from “our biggest polls.”
And by 9:25 p.m., with 56 of 107 polls, Redies led 5,199-3,414 and arrived at her campaign office to jubilant supporters.
“This has been a fantastic journey,” Redies told Peace Arch News.
While Redies was celebrating the results, NDP candidate Niovi Patsicakis was still watching results trickle in with her campaign team.
“Things haven’t finished playing out so it’s difficult for me to make any detailed comments,” Patsicakis said while Redies was winning 8,194 votes to 5,023. “I knew when I went into this that it would be a tough run. I think we’re doing well and we will see how things unfold.”
At 10:30 p.m., with 89 of 107 polls, Redies led 9,912-5,874.
Meanwhile, in the new Surrey South riding, with 97 of 104 polls reporting, BC Liberal Stephanie Cadieux led 11,579-7,202 over nearest of six opponents BC New Democrat Jonathan Silveira.
Shortly before 10 p.m., Cadieux spoke with reporters after being proclaimed the victor.
She later told PAN the wait for final results is “nerve-wracking.”
At the same time, “it’s looking pretty good for me and Tracy (Redies),” she said. “It remains to be seen yet what the final tally will be and I think there’ll be more to say after that. For now, I’m thankful.”
And in Surrey-Panorama, with 72 of 80 polls reporting, BC New Democrat Jinny Sims led BC Liberal Puneet Sandhar 8,403-7,311 after an earlier 1,217-1,217 tie. Sims was declared winner shortly after 10 p.m.
In Surrey-Cloverdale, with 83 of 97 polls reporting, BC Liberal Marvin Hunt led BC New Democrat Rebecca Smith 8,831-6,958.
“At least I’ll have a job,” he said earlier in the evening as he was declared the winner.
Provincially, incumbent Premier Christy Clark and the BC Liberals aim to continue to rule B.C. with a minority government after neither major party gained enough seats in Tuesday’s election to secure the 44 seats required for a majority.
The seat count remained virtually deadlocked at the end of the night, with the Liberals declared elected in 43 seats, and the NDP elected in 41, with ongoing uncertainty in some close races that could yet go back and forth.
The BC Greens scored a major breakthrough. They are now elected in three ridings – leader Andrew Weaver’s seat in Oak Bay-Gordon Head plus new wins by Adam Olsen in Saanich-North and the Islands, and Sonia Furstenau in Cowichan Valley.
Although results will not be official until after a May 22-24 final count, here’s how local candidates stand:
South Surrey-White Rock
• Tracy Redies (BC Liberals) 13,232
• Niovi Patsicakis (BC NDP) 7,925
• Bill Marshall (BC Greens) 4,189
• Tom Bryant (Independent) 894
Surrey South
• Stephanie Cadieux (BC Liberals) 12,345
• Jonathan Silveira (BC NDP) 7,745
• Pascal Tremblay (BC Greens) 2,826
• Peter Njenga (Independent) 580
• Josh Barrett (Libertarian) 282
• Gary Hee (Independent) 125
• Fabiola Cecilia Palomino (Your Political Party of BC) 61
Surrey-Panorama
Jinny Sims (BC NDP) 10,910
Puneet Sandhar (BC Liberals) 9,126
Veronica Laurel Greer (BC Greens) 1,437
Liz Galenzoski (BC Refed) 117
Surrey-Cloverdale
• Marvin Hunt (BC Liberals) 11,171
• Rebecca Smith (BC NDP) 8,976
• Aleksandra Muniak (BC Greens) 2,871
• Peter Poelstra Libertarian 263
