It appears three of the four BC Conservative candidates are keeping their election night watch parties a secret.听
Macklin McCall, Tara Armstrong, and Kristina Loewen did not respond to or acknowledge a routine email Wednesday requesting information on where and when they will gather with supporters to watch the results come in after 8 p.m. on Saturday.
The only candidate who did respond, Gavin Dew, whosa国际传媒 running in sa国际传媒 Mission, said his plans for the night are still being finalized. But he did say via email that media would be welcome to attend.
鈥淚鈥檓 happy to be available to media on election night in person, by phone, or with a written statement,鈥 wrote Dew, who ran unsuccessfully for the leadership of the BC United Party in 2022.听
For the other three BC Conservative candidates, none of whom have political experience, itsa国际传媒 an unusual but perhaps not surprising approach to safeguard their election night plans. The three have regularly skipped debates and ignored questions from the sa国际传媒 media, saying they prefer to door-knock.听
Election night gatherings are usually festive and well-attended affairs, particularly if a party believes it has a good chance of winning. Eager to have their triumphal moment memorialized, candidates confident of winning usually welcome reporters and photographers.
Public opinion polls have consistently shown the BC Conservatives ahead of the NDP in the sa国际传媒 Southern Interior, and the aggregator poll website听听said all four sa国际传媒-area seats are considered to be 鈥渟afe鈥 victories for the party, as are the two South Okanagan ridings.听
However, the same website, as of a Tuesday update, is predicting the NDP will win another majority government, with 51 seats, the BC Conservatives winning 40 and the Greens winning two.听
Overall support for the two parties across the province is said to be nearly identical, at 45 per cent for the NDP and 43 per cent for the BC Conservatives. But the NDPsa国际传媒 strength is more widely distributed than is the support for the BC Conservatives, meaning they are on track to win more seats.听
