Delta residents will soon know if their incumbent MLAs are back for another term or if there’s a change.
Polls close at 8 p.m. for B.C.’s 43rd General Election this evening (Saturday, Oct. 19), with preliminary results coming in minutes after thanks to electronic tabulators being used for the first time.
In Delta South, Conservative Ian Paton is seeking re-election, facing challenger Jason McCormick with the NDP.
McCormick, a Ladner resident a transit driver, said there is a need for the community to have a voice in government.
The BC Green Party had announced that UVic political science and Indigenous studies student Sophia Borghetto was running for the party in Delta South, but it was later announced Borghetto didn’t collect enough signatures before the nomination deadline.
Last month, Paton announced that he decided to join the BC Conservative Party in the provincial election, hoping to continue to represent the riding that he has held since 2017 for the BC Liberals, who later changed their name to BC United.
The East Ladner farmer and former city councillor was forced to decide whether to quit, run as an independent or join the Conservatives after the surprise announcement by BC United leader Kevin Falcon that their party would essentially fold, not running in the election to avoid splitting the vote.
Paton told the Optimist voters will still get the same Ian Paton as before.
In the 2020 B.C. election, the NDP won a 55-seat majority with the Liberals, who would later change their name, winning just 29 seats, and the Greens winning three.
Paton, the opposition agriculture critic, won Delta South for the Liberals with almost 53 per cent per cent of the popular vote, his second provincial election victory. Prior to Paton, the riding had previously been held for two terms by independent Vicki Huntington before she stepped down, and the Liberals for decades before that.
Meanwhile, in Delta North, incumbent NDP MLA Ravi Kahlon faces challenges from Raj Veauli with the Conservatives, Nick Dickinson-Wilde for the Green Party and Manqoosh Khan with the Freedom Party of BC.
Amrit Pal Singh Dhot had been the BC United candidate for Delta North. However, he found himself on the outs when Falcon announced that the party's campaign was suspended and members were asked to support the BC Conservatives, leaving Veauli as the Conservative choice for Delta North.
Kahlon, the NDP government’s Minister of Housing, was the only candidate to participate in two recent all-candidates’ forums in North Delta.
In the 2020 provincial election, the North Delta resident won a second term with just over 55 per cent of the vote. His first election win in 2017 saw him beat out Liberal incumbent Scott Hamilton.
Since then, the configurations of both ridings have changed for the 2024 election.
The BC Electoral Boundaries Commission recommended changes that were approved a couple of years ago, which saw the creation of six new provincial ridings and changes to the boundaries of many existing electoral districts.
The changes include part of the Delta North provincial electoral district being moved to the Delta South district, as the area south of 64th Avenue was transferred into Delta South.
