Selina Robinson, the incumbent MLA for Coquitlam-Maillardville, won re-election tonight in a rematch of the 2013 provincial election.
Four years ago, it took a recount to turn a 100-vote loss into a 46-vote win for Robinson over BC Liberal challenger Steve Kim.
Tonight, Robinson won with a more decisive margin. With all 88 ballot boxes reported, she had picked up 10,308 votes (50% of votes cast) to Kim’s 7,862 (38%). The BC Green Party’s Nicola Spurling came in a distant third, garnering just 2,223 votes (11%).
Robinson told The Tri-City News it was nice to win on election night rather than having to wait for a recount.
"It feels very different," she said.
And while the provincial results were not yet finalized, she said the closeness of the race shows that British Columbians are not happy with the BC Liberal government.
"What is glaring is that people are not happy with Christy Clark and the BC Liberals," she said. "They are looking for change and we ought to be able to deliver that."
Kim, reflecting on his second defeat to Robinson, told The Tri-City News: "I don't think we'd have done it differently. The people have spoken and this is what they chose."
He didn't rule out running politically in the future but said for now, he's going to focus on thanking his team and taking some time to reflect.
