Conservative Kerry-Lynne Findlay is the new MP for South Surrey-White Rock.
Findlay unseated Liberal incumbent Gordie Hogg Monday night.
With 208 of 209 polls reporting, Findlay won the riding with 24,044 votes to Hogg’s 21,319. NDP candidate Stephen Crozier had 6,558 votes and Joel Poulin of the People’s Party of Canada had 838.
Voter turnout in the riding was 67.89 per cent, with 57,120 of 84,138 registered voters casting a ballot.
In her victory, Findlay made good on a vow she made after being defeated by Hogg in the 2017 byelection for the riding.
“We’re going to go all the way in 2019,” she had told cheering supporters after ceding defeat in that race.
At that time, she noted that the snap election called by the Liberals had left her only four weeks to campaign after being confirmed as Conservative candidate.
The riding had been called for Findlay Monday night before she arrived at her party at Townhall Public House.
As she entered, joined by her husand and three of her four children, Findlay was greeted with loud cheers.
Daughter Hannah McCormack told reporters, “She’s put in a lot of work.”
“It’s a big celebration for our whole family tonight,” added daughter Donna Chapman.
“We made a big effort, we’ve worked hard and I’d say we left nothing to chance. We just kept working right up to the very end and that kind of work and dedication and passion really pays off, and I thank you,” Findlay said, addressing the crowd.
“I want you to know that I’ve spoken with Gordon Hogg tonight.”
Findlay told the crowd that she thanked Hogg for his many years of service to the community.
Gordie Hogg has arrived at his event, greeting and thanking supporters and volunteers. pic.twitter.com/By8Bm9tn5E
— Aaron Hinks (@aaron_hinks) October 22, 2019
Offering Findlay his congratulations, Hogg thanked his own supporters and vowed to continue giving back to the community.
“I’m so honoured and blessed for the support that I’ve had from this community for 40 years. I say thank you for that and I’m not going anywhere. I live here and I’m going to make any contributions I can for this community.”
Hogg added that he was quite proud to flip a traditional Conservative seat to the Liberal party. And that he hopes initiatives he focused on during his time in office continue to get attention.
A lawyer and former Delta-Richmond East MP, Findlay served under Conservative prime minister Stephen Harper as minister of national revenue from July 2013 to November 2015, and was also associate minister of national defence.
Raised on Vancouver Island, she spent her teen years in South Surrey and White Rock after her parents moved to the Peninsula.
She has been an advocate for constituents, business owners, farmers, fishers, seniors, youth and others in the region, and worked co-operatively with local mayors and councils, first nations and provincial authorities to gain funding for such infrastructure projects as the South Fraser Perimeter Road and the Tsawwassen First Nation facilities upgrade.
In South Surrey-White Rock, five candidates ran. Hogg sought re-election and was challenged by Findlay, Stephen Crozier (NDP), Beverly Pixie Hobby (Green), and Joel Poulin (People’s Party of Canada).
The South Surrey-White Rock riding was created in 2013 and was contested in 2017 in a by-election after Conservative MP Dianne Watts resigned to run for leader of the B.C. Liberal Party.
Federally, the peninsula has been a bastion of conservatism, in one form or another, until Hogg was elected Liberal MP in the by-election.
READ MORE: Voters’ priorities vary at South Surrey-White Rock polling station
Despite South Surrey typically leaning conservative – in one form or another – on election night, Watts’ win in 2015 was by no means a resounding reaffirmation of it being a safe blue seat, as she finished with 24,934 votes to runner-up Liberal candidate Judy Higginbotham’s 23,495 votes.
Before Watts, the last opposition MP on the peninsula was the Reform’s Val Meredith, who lost the Tory nomination in 2004 to Russ Hiebert.
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