Conservative Mark Strahl has earned a seat in a majority Conservative government under Stephen Harper.
Results from Elections Canada give Strahl a decisive grip on Chilliwack-Fraser Canyon, the riding that his father Chuck Strahl had held since 1993.
Some of that historic support did slip since the 2008 federal election, with the NDP’s Gwen O’Mahony narrowing the gap slightly between first and second.
However, Strahl still captured more than half of the votes cast; the NDP, 26 per cent.
Strahl admitted the controversy about the short nomination process, and criticism during the election campaign for not showing up at some all-candidates meeting gave him some nervous moments.
But those issues were “primarily something that was used by my opponents,” he said.
“For the people in this room, and the voters at the door, that wasn’t their concern,” he said. “Their concern was the economy, crime, health care ... and they addressed those issues at the polls.”
Locally, Liberal Diane Janzen was unable to capitalize on her popularity as a former Chilliwack city councillor. She finished a distant third with around 11 per cent of the vote.
The Green Party, meanwhile, finished fourth with roughly six per cent of the votes cast.
Here's how the candidates finished:
Mark Strahl, Conservative: 28,153
Gwen O’Mahony NDP: 12,665
Diane Janzen, Liberal: 5,317
Jamie Hoskins, Green Party: 2,701
Clive Edwards, Western Block: 180
Dorothy-Jean O’Donnell, Marxist-Leninist: 173
Total number of valid votes: 49,189
Voter turnout: 58.8 per cent
See Friday’s Chilliwack Progress for more details and reactions.