B.C. Election 2026: Tri-Cities, Maple Ridge and Pitt-Meadows voters head to the polls

“I think it’s going to be a real hard race for the NDP to win this back again, though Campbell clearly has some experience in the area,” said Ian Bushfield, a local political commenter for the podcasts PolitiCoast and Cambie Report.

The Green party followed in third in Maple Ridge East with 1,626 votes.

Greens could make ground in Metro Vancouver, if last week’s municipal election is any indication of how voters are leaning after Vancouver voted in its first Green mayor with Pete Fry.

It’s a notable concern for NDP leader David Eby who during the campaign asked voters not to choose Green because it could split the left vote.

Bushfield said he doesn’t think the Greens have a strong presence in these ridings: “It looks more like a mix of first time candidates or perennial candidates to ensure they have the presence.”

One of these ridings where Greens could split the vote is Port Moody-Burquitlam, where incumbent Rick Glumac is hoping to hold on to his seat.

Glumac, who is Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence and New Technologies and the husband of Port Moody’s new mayor-elect Haven Lurbiecki, is popular given he helped establish Port Moody’s Urgent and Primary Care Centre and has been an MLA since 2017.

But he has some new challengers. Conservative John McEwen has served as Anmore’s mayor as well as vice-chair at Metro Vancouver. The Greens’ Wei Chou is a tech entrepreneur who has helped organize climate justice events across Metro Vancouver.

Last election in this riding, which includes the city of Port Moody, the villages of Belcarra and Anmore, and parts of Coquitlam, including the neighbourhood of Burquitlam, Glumac won with 52.1 per cent of the vote compared with 40.5 per cent for the Conservative candidate Kerry van Aswegen.

“(Glumac) only loses if the NDP face a disaster scenario on Saturday,” said Bushfield.

According to 338canada.com, Port Moody-Burquitlam is NDP-leaning, as are the ridings of Port Coquitlam, and Coquitlam-Maillardville where eight-term MLA Mike Farnworth and one-term MLA Jennifer Blatherwick are seeking re-election, respectively.

New Westminster-Coquitlam, where Minister of Labour Jennifer Whiteside is the incumbent, is considered a safe NDP riding, according to the polling site.

While the site has Maple Ridge East leaning Conservative, Maple-Ridge Pitt Meadows is considered a toss-up.

This could be an interesting one to watch given NDP incumbent Lisa Beare had a comfortable lead in the last election with 54.9 per cent compared with the Conservatives’ Mike Morden at 45.1 per cent.

This time Beare will be taking on Conservative Doug Morneau, a businessman who is active in the Maple Ridge church community. Other candidates include Susan Einarsson with OneBC, and Jordan Simmons with CentreBC.

B.C. has 93 seats and 47 are needed for a majority.

ticrawford@postmedia.com

With files from Nathan Griffiths

Port Coquitlam:

• Keenan Adams, Conservative Party
• Lee-Ann Bates, Unaffiliated
• Lewis C. Dahlby, Libertarian
• Mike Farnworth, B.C. NDP (incumbent)
• Stephanie Hendy, B.C. Green party

Port Moody-Burquitlam:

• Wei Chou, B.C. Green party
• Rick Glumac, B.C. NDP (incumbent)
• John McEwen, Conservative Party
• Freddy Rawji, CentreBC

Coquitlam-Burke Mountain:

• Kaden Mann, CentreBC
• Valerie Morrison, B.C. Green party
• Ryan Peterson, Conservative Party
• Jodie Wickens, B.C. NDP (incumbent)