Conservative Party of BC candidate Sheldon Clare was declared the winner of Prince George-North Cariboo riding Saturday night with 18,344 votes reported.
Clare took 10,481, that’s 56.5 per cent of the vote, while incumbent Coralee Oakes, running as an independent took, 4,181 votes, which is 22.5 per cent of the vote with some polls still left to report.
“I feel amazingly grateful for the team I have and for all the work they put into this success,” Clare said during a phone interview from Quesnel on election night.
“I’ve got a fantastic campaign manager, Elizabeth Wilson, and she really pulled out all the stops and it’s clearly paid off.”
Clare took a ligh-hearted approach to answer the next question about what his plans are moving forward.
“Well, we’re going to clean up a bunch of election signs,” Clare laughed. “We have to work on a transition plan with Coralee Oakes. We’ll have to see what we have to do there. Start looking for office space for Prince George and Quesnel and get the best people in place to serve the people of this riding very well.”
Clare said he thought this was a pretty good race.
“Everybody stayed pretty clean and I really appreciate that,” Clare said.
“And I would like to thank Coralee for her years of service. She’s clearly got a strong following in the region and I salute her and I hope that I can do a good job for the people in this riding and build upon the legacy she’s left.”
