Grace Lore retained her Victoria-Beacon Hill seat for the NDP on Saturday, comfortably fending off a challenge from Green Leader Sonia Furstenau, who was left without a seat in the legislature.
Opinion polls gave Furstenau a slight lead headed into voting day but that never materialized on election night, with Lore besting Furstenau by 47 per cent to 33 per cent with almost all ballots counted. Conservative candidate Tim Thielmann came third with 19 per cent.
As Lore’s win was announced, supporters at the Green Party gathering at the Delta Ocean Pointe Hotel gave a collective sigh and fell silent.
Furstenau, who previously worked as a teacher, gave an emotional speech Saturday night, surrounded by her family, including her husband, children and mother.
“I am so blessed,” said Furstenau. “I am so lucky to live in a family filled with so much love, and it’s the only thing that kept me going all these years.”
Fellow Green candidates Rob Botterell in Saanich North and the Islands and Jeremy Valeriote in West Vancouver-Sea to Sky, who appeared headed for victory in their ridings, will be the voice of “truth and honesty and compassion” and stand up for the “future of the movement,” Furstenau said.
Lore first won in the pandemic election of 2020, after former NDP leader Carole James, who had held the riding from 2005 to 2020, declined to run again for health reasons.
Lore, who holds a PhD in political studies from the University of B.C., was appointed minister of children and family development in January, following a stint as minister of state for child care, and as parliamentary secretary for gender equity.
With the exception of Liberal MLA Jeff Bray in 2001-2005, the riding has gone NDP since it was created in 1991.
Lore said she ran in the belief that everyone deserves safety in their community, an affordable home and accessible health care.
Furstenau relocated to Victoria this year after serving two terms representing the Cowichan Valley.
Many questioned her decision to run against Lore, who captured 54 per cent of the vote in 2020, but Furstenau said she was determined to win.
Furstenau said she moved from her home in Shawnigan Lake for family reasons — her eldest son and his wife in Victoria are expecting a child next month and her other son was in his second year at the University of Victoria.
Furstenau pitched British Columbians on the idea that the Greens could once again help shape legislation in a minority government, as it did from 2017 to 2020 when it propped up the NDP to topple the B.C. Liberals.
She accused the Conservatives of pandering to U.S.-style culture-war issues, and the NDP of betraying many of its progressive values over seven years in office.
Thielmann, who worked as a lawyer with First Nations for 15 years, ran for the Conservatives, saying most people no longer feel safe walking downtown and not enough emphasis is being put on drug treatment and recovery.
