BC Liberals candidate Doug Clovechok wins in Columbia River–Revelstoke

BC Liberals have snatched Columbia River–Revelstoke from the NDP. Second time’s a charm for candidate Doug Clovechok, while the well-credentialed BC NDP candidate and party machine favourite Gerry Taft loses. We have election results for Columbia River–Revelstoke in our live blog posts.

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May 9, 2017
Columbia River–Revelstoke BC Liberals candidate Doug Clovechok. Photo: Aaron Orlando/Revelstoke Mountaineer

Election results from Columbia River–Revelstoke are now coming in. We’ll be updating with results in blog format, with the newest news at the top.

All ballot boxes are in. BC Liberals candidate Doug Clovechok has won the riding with 45.75% of the vote, over the NDP’s Gerry Taft with 35.92%. Clovechok got 6,235 votes over Taft’s 4,966.

In third, the BC Green Party candidate Samson Boyer earned 11.5% of the vote.

A total of 13,864 votes were cast in the riding.

Here are all the numbers:

The BC Liberals have won in Columbia River–Revelstoke for the first time since 2001, when the party won the province in a tidal wave. However, they lost to the BC NDP in 2005 after a wave of cuts to government services under the Liberals.

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In some of our tweets below, we were counting the ballot box totals wrong, but the percentages were good. Thanks for tuning in. In the coming days we’ll have updates and reaction. In the meantime, see our videos and analysis below.

Video: BC Liberals candidate Doug Clovechok celebrates the good results so far:

Video: As we’ve been blogging tonight, in a statement acknowledging a likely defeat, Gerry Taft acknowledges that his defamation lawsuit scandal hurt him. From the NDP campaign headquarters via the Invermere Valley Echo:

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Here are the latest numbers. Clovechok 6,235, Taft, 4,966.

Doug Clovechok has built enough of a lead to call him the winner in Columbia River–Revelstoke. He has 5,784 votes over 4,656 for the NDP’s Gerry Taft. That means the NDP has lost the riding to the BC Liberals.

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Gerry Taft’s defamation case loss against a deer cull opponent could have been a key turning point in the election. Here, Aaron Orlando from the Revelstoke Mountaineer interviews Taft on an incident that undoubtedly hurt Taft.

Two notable scandals seemed to have hurt Columbia River–Revelstoke NDP candidate Gerry Taft, who is trailing in his bid to replace outgoing NDP MLA Norm Macdonald. The first involved his controversial nomination over candidate Spring Hawes, who is disabled and female, two requirements according to an internal NDP policy for a candidate replacing a white male. After pestering by the media, Taft, who is married with a child, declared that he was bisexual. Read our story about that here.

https://revelstokemountaineer.com/columbia-river-revelstoke-ndp-candidate-gerry-taft-reveals-bisexuality-over-equity-questions-15642

The other scandal just last week came when a judge ruled against Gerry Taft, ordering him to pay $75,000 in a defamation case brought by a deer cull opponent after Taft posted comments in an East Kootenay online news website. Read that story here:

https://revelstokemountaineer.com/ndp-candidate-gerry-taft-ordered-to-pay-75000-in-defamation-judgment-2-18731

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Doug Clovechok still in the lead with 30 of 84 ballots reporting.

 

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BC Liberals candidate Doug Clovechok talks to the Invermere Valley Echo.

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It looks like it’s going to be a close one in Columbia River–Revelstoke. BC Liberals candidate Doug Clovechok pulls ahead, but lots of ballot boxes left.

Gerry Taft speaks with the Invermere Valley Echo on election evening:

 

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Clovechok has pulled ahead.

The NDP’s Gerry Taft moves ahead with the first batch of ballot boxes counted.

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Revelstoke Mountaineer staff

This post was published by a member of the Revelstoke Mountaineer staff. Stories published under the staff byline include news briefs, stories that consist mostly of media releases, social media post shares, and stories by contributors with the author’s name listed in the body of the story.

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