B.C.’s two major provincial political parties sank more than $100,000 each into February’s Coquitlam-Burke Mountain byelection, newly released Elections BC documents show.
BC NDP candidate Jodie Wickens, who won, spent $110,926 in her winning effort while the BC Liberals’ Joan Isaacs laid out $100,162 for her campaign.
Both campaigns were entirely funded through transfers from their parties.
Meanwhile, Green Party candidate Joe Keithley spent $22,948, with $8,105 coming from his party, while Libertarian candidate Paul Geddes did not spend any money on his campaign.
There were some notable expenditures listed in the candidates’ financial disclosure forms.
For example, Wickens’ campaign spent $46,184 on salaries and benefits while Isaacs’ team only spent $13,843. The NDP also outspent the BC Liberals on telecommunications, $18,631 to $1,216.
But the BC Liberals put more money into research and polling, spending $27,392, while the NDP did not spend anything.
The BC Liberals also had the highest dollar-to-vote ratio, spending $31.84 for every one of the 3,146 ballots cast for Isaacs; the NDP spent $28.92 for every one of the 3,836 ballots cast for Wickens. The Green Party spent $20.60 for each of the 1,114 votes cast for Keithley.
@gmckennaTC
