Claire Rattée's Skeena riding winning margin by percentage of votes in the Oct. 19, 2024 provincial election was remarkably close to that of predecessor Ellis Ross in the 2020 provincial election, results from Elections BC indicate.
Rattée, now officially the MLA-elect from the right-of-centre Conservative Party of B.C. received 6,243 votes or 51.2 per cent of votes cast compared to Ross who, running as a right-of-centre B.C. Liberal, received 5,810 ballots or 52.06 per cent of the total vote.
The B.C. United Party (the rebranded B.C. Liberals) halted their election bid at the end of August with party leader Kevin Falcon urging the party to support the provincial Conservatives instead. He said it was the only way to prevent the re-election of the NDP.
Total turn out in 2020 was 11,160 voters during the height of COVID-19 compared to 12,193 people this time.
New Democrat Sarah Zimmerman received 44.44 per cent of the votes cast in the Oct. 19 election, a virtual tie with Nicole Halbauer's 44.45 per cent of the vote when she ran for the NDP in 2020. By number of votes, Zimmerman collected 5,419 ballots this time compared to Halbauer's 4,961 in 2020.
Teri Young of the Green Party of B.C. received 406 votes or 3.33 per cent of the total cast while Iriwin Jeffrey of the Christian Heritage Party of B.C. collected 125 votes or 1.03 per cent of those who turned out to the polls.
If the 2020 and 2024 results were similar between the NDP and the Conservatives/B.C. Liberals, so were the results in the 2017 provincial election.
Ross won Skeena with a voter turnout percentage of 52.23 per cent while New Democrat Bruce Bidgood collected 43.29 per cent of votes cast.
There were 21,485 registered voters in the Skeena riding this time and of those, 12,193 people voted for a 56.75 per cent turnout.
The number of registered voters in 2020 was a little higher at 21,621. The turnout was 11,219 people or 51.89 per cent, but again, that was the first year of COVID.
Elections B.C. placed the turnout in this election at a record 2,107,152 voters or 58.3 per cent of registered voters.
