Stikine Liberal candidate Sharon Hartwell may be one of the few who believed Premier Christy Clark would form the next provincial government.
“I always knew that Christy would win, there was no doubt in my mind that she would,” Hartwell said.
“Winning it with a majority was just icing on the cake.”
In a conclusion contrary to many media pundits and pollsters’ expectations, the Liberals won 50 seats to the NDP’s 33.
Hartwell lost in the Stikine riding to NDP incumbent Doug Donaldson by a margin of 3,769 to 2,995 votes.
While the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline was a topic on a lot of voters’ minds, Hartwell said she didn’t feel the riding or the election were decided on that issue alone.
“There’s no question people are concerned about [the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline] but more and more people were talking about the economy,” she said.
Despite her failed bid for the Stikine MLA post, Hartwell said she has been hearing lots of positive comments from community members.
“I’ve been hearing on the ground that people are really happy that we have a Liberal government, a free enterprise government that is concerned about not only the finances but the business part of the community and enhancing the programs we have in place,” Hartwell said.
