Conservative Lawrence Mok is the new MLA for Maple Ridge East, after he upset the NDP's incumbent Bob D'Eith.
Two hours after the polls closed, votes were still being counted in the riding of Maple Ridge East, and there were literally about 300 votes separating the NDP and Conservative candidates.
Incumbent NDP candidate Bob D'Eith was trailing behind newcomer Lawrence Mok, who ran for the Tories.
Mok won with 11,791 votes compared to D'Eith's 11,465.
"We ran an incredible campaign," said D'Eith when the outcome was still in doubt. "The volunteers stepped up, everybody did the work, we did everything we could possibly do to fight for B.C. and fight for what we believe in, and it's super close."
He was able to laugh with party people at the post-election gathering at the Anavets club in Maple Ridge, and noted the election is "very reminiscent of 2017 for me."
D'Eith is a lawyer and musician who was first elected MLA in the riding of Maple Ridge-Mission that year and re-elected in 2020. He beat incumbent Marc Dalton of the BC Liberal Party in a close contest in 2017. He was up by 120 votes on election night, and had to wait for a recount to be declared the winner. He had 10,989 votes to 10,664 by Dalton.
Mok carried the B.C. Conservative banner in the riding. The 35-year resident of Maple Ridge has been an electrical engineer and general manager.
"I'm leading by just over 300 votes, and it's very tight, very close," he said at 10:30 p.m. on election night. "I have confidence. I worked hard, and I have a good team."
He said he personally knocked on over 2,000 doors to connect with voters, and his team of volunteers, young and old, did the same.
"I couldn’t make it if I don’t have such a good team," he said. " It’s an amazing thing to have people of all ages come together to support you."
Just after 11 p.m. he was declared the winner.
On Monday and Tuesday, he was out pulling up his hundreds of lawn signs.
Mok said he was "90 per cent confident," but wanted to wait for the official confirmation after counting ended on Oct. 28 before offering any comments as the winning candidate.
"I haven't really started celebrating yet – we'll wait until after Oct. 28th," said Mok.
"The Conservative Party as a whole has done very well," he added.
D'Eith was also waiting for the official result, noting that the division of seats, and who will form government, is still up in the air.
The B.C. Green Party candidate was Kylee Williams, who has a professional background in non-profit fundraising and professional communication, and has been an advocate for stronger climate action, affordable housing, and better access to healthcare and education. As the votes were almost tallied, she had gleaned 1,570.
In advance polls, 10,868 voters turned out to cast their vote in Maple Ridge East, out of 43,548 total registered voters.
