Thursday September 5, 2024 | COLWOOD, BC [Updated September 7, 2024]
Political analysis by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
UPDATE SEPTEMBER 7, 2024: Darlene Rotchford is being acclaimed as the BC NDP candidate for Esquimalt-Colwood.
It’s somewhat late in the campaign preparation period, but the BC NDP will be announcing a new candidate for Esquimalt-Colwood.
A nomination meeting will be held this weekend and a new candidate will be announced, say organizers. That’s likely by Monday September 9.
It will be interesting to see if a candidate with instant name recognition is ‘parachuted in’, or whether someone will be pulled from the ranks of the heavily-loaded Sooke School District (SD62) realm of west shore political connections or from municipal ranks.
An oddity for this riding, that an MLA who has held a seat on the lower mainland (in Vancouver-Burrard) actually now resides in the Esquimalt-Colwood riding; Spencer Chandra-Herbert might be tapped to run in his home area.
Last-minute shift:
The previous candidate was Mitzi Dean, a two-term MLA and former cabinet minister, who on August 31 announced she would not be seeking re-election. Her reasons were health and family.
About the riding:
The Esquimalt-Colwood electoral area is new for this 2024 election cycle. The boundaries include Esquimalt, Colwood, View Royal and Vic West.
The urban riding is 53 sq km in size (the second largest riding on Vancouver Island), bordered by Metchosin, Langford, Saanich and Victoria.
Election scope:
- Currently there is only one other contender in the Esquimalt-Colwood riding, that being Camille Currie as the candidate for the BC Greens.
- The BC Conservatives haven’t yet announced a candidate for Esquimalt-Colwood.
- There was a BC United candidate (Meagan Brame) but on August 28 that party’s leader cancelled the entire campaign for all BC United candidates.
The BC NDP will have 93 candidates across all 93 provincial ridings in the 2024 BC provincial election.
The campaign period officially begins on September 21. General election day is on October 19, 2024.
===== RELATED:
- BC NDP chooses Darlene Rotchford as candidate for Esquimalt-Colwood (September 7, 2024)
- BC Conservatives are ‘untested’ says former BC United candidate Meagan Brame (September 1, 2024)
- Mitzi Dean pulls out of election 2024 (August 31, 2024)
- NEWS SECTIONS: BC ELECTION 2024