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Kevin Craig and Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd at Craig's celebration party. (Photo Adrian Nieoczym)
In a by-election marred by low voter turnout, 19-year-old Kevin Craig emerged victorious from a field of 15 candidates, capturing Brian Given’s old council seat with 2,863 votes.
Craig had 436 more votes that second-place finisher Todd Sanderson.
“I’m thrilled. I’m still a little shocked but I’m extremely grateful to the voters of Kelowna for placing their trust in me,” said Craig after the results were announced. “Most of all I’m excited to be a part of council as we move forward through the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.”
Kelowna Mayor Sharon Shepherd and Coun. Michele Rule dropped in at Craig’s celebration party at a Manteo Resort villa.
“I’m very proud of him,” said Shepherd. Asked what Craig will bring to council, she replied, “He’s young…so, he’ll bring a really good perspective for the age group that I think is under represented.”
“I’m really happy for Kevin. I think he worked really hard,” said Rule. “We had a great slate of candidates, there were a lot of really good people but I’m pleased that the people of Kelowna wanted to have a young person on council.”
Oddly enough, Sanderson was holding his post-campaign gathering in the unit right next door to Craig’s.
“Well I lost and I’m not happy,” he said. “But good on Kevin. I congratulate him and wish him well.”
Only 10,146 people bothered to cast votes in the by-election, a voter turnout of 11 per cent. That is eight points lower than last November’s regular election when Craig placed ninth, missing out on the final council seat by only 39 votes.
Vote totals for the candidates were: Kevin Craig (2,863), Todd Sanderson (2,427), Vern Nielsen (1,665), Mary-Ann Graham (1,004), Ernie Patterson (527), Mark Thompson (406), Matthew Reed (280), Valerie Hallford (270), Rocky Mix (270), Michael Loewen (172), Dennis William Rojem (116), Clay Kessler (53), Kim Ouellette (45), Andy Uitvlugt (30) and James Murphy (18).
The results at this point are unofficial. They will be verified and made official on Monday. Provided the results hold, Craig will take his seat in two weeks.
adrian@kelowna.com
250-575-3517
Updated 09/11/28 8:27 p.m.
Nineteen-year-old Kevin Craig has won the City of Kelowna municipal by-election.
The UBC Okanagan student captured 2,863 votes or 28.22 per cent. Runner-up Todd Sanderson received 2,427 votes or 23.92 per cent.
A total of 10,146 votes were cast, good for a voter turnout rate of 11 per cent. That’s a a drop of eight per cent from last November’s regular election.
Craig placed ninth in that election, when eight councillors were elected. He missed out on a council seat by 39 votes.
The unofficial vote totals for the other candidatesare : Vern Nielsen (1,665), Mary-Ann Graham (1,004), Ernie Patterson (527), Mark Thompson (406), Matthew Reed (280), Valerie Hallford (270), Rocky Mix (270), Michael Loewen (172), Dennis William Rojem (116), Clay Kessler (53), Kim Ouellette (45), Andy Uitvlugt (30) and James Murphy (18).
The results will be made official on Monday
Watch Kelowna.com for continuing coverage.
17 Responses to “Update: 19-year-old Kevin Craig celebrates by-election victory”
Tags: by-election, Kelowna, kevin craig, Sharon Shepherd, Todd Sanderson
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I don’t think any other person deserves it more than you Kevin. You put your heart and soul into this and can’t wait to see you on Council.
Congratulations!
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AWESOME!!!
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Way to go Kevin. It’s good to see diligence pay off.
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Good on you Kevin! But 11 percent turn-out…that’s embarrassing. I wonder if a ward system would get people involved more and create more focus of neighbourhood needs/issues. There seems to be no vision coming from any local politicians lately of what they want for their community. Hopefully Councillor Craig changes that.
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The big story of the evening isn’t Kevin Craig’s victory, as many had expected that, but rather the poor voter turnout at 11%, a new low for the city. City council had an opportunity to increase the voter turnout by putting at least one referendum item on the ballot such as asking voters if they approved of the downtown CD Zone, but there wasn’t a single member of city council that supported doing so. I believe this is a case of engineered apathy as city council doesn’t want democracy to fully function in Kelowna in order that the business community and its friends in the city administration can continue to call the shots.
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Yes the big story is Kevin Craig’s win.
Can’t you just shut up, be happy and congratulate him for once in your life?
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Hope he is not just resume building.
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When did the voters in our city become so disengaged from participating in the democratic process that the apathy is now an established pattern? It would be interesting to see at what point in our history people just plain stopped caring enough to venture out in the rain. Perhaps having a lively debate and multi-aged council will revive our interest. Checking out the results of the polling station is a good way to see how people vote and what areas are most willing to participate in a democracy. Do we always need a backhoe to show up for us to become aware of what the decision in Council mean to our neighbourhoods?
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Love the flashing botox ad above Kevin’s smiling face.
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Congratulations Kevin. I think you’ll be an excellent councillor for all of Kelowna. Your campaign team did a great job too!!
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I’m wondering if part of the poor turnout is that there was notice in the news regarding good advanced poll turnouts. It seems odd but if people hear that the turn out is going well they may adopt the attitude that “enough” people are voting already, so their one vote isn’t worth their time or effort. Is anyone in Kelowna doing any sort of research into public attitudes regarding the electoral process, the city council and such? I would be interested to see any possible differences in attitudes based on demographics as well.
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In response to Krista’s comment, I don’t think it worked that way but rasther that the high turnout at the advance polls were just a fluke that really didn’t signify anything. It works that way sometimes and not all the tea leaves are meaningful. If anything, I thought the reported high turnout at the advance polls would get others off their butts with the feeling that something significant was happening that they should become part of. All in all, 11% is pretty disgraceful and I think that the blame goes to the current and past city council’s who have had a pretty cyncial attitude towards public particpation in decision making in this city.
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The big news is the poor turnout, I agree.
People are not bothering to vote because they feel their vote no longer makes a difference.
I’m sure Kevin is happy, and I suppose congratulations are in order. But being able to get elected to council with just 3% of votes from eligible voters is not exactly a strong endorsement for any candidate.
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John,
If more people in Kelowna thought like you, wouldn’t you have a seat there? I mean, you’ve tried how many times?
Let’s face it . . . you are SOOO out of touch with what most Kelowna residents want and think.
Slowly but surely, this town is changing. Kevin Craig is the face of the new, emerging Kelowna. Young, hard-working, passionate.
And Nicholas,
With 15 candidates on the slaight, 3% is actually not that bad.
Congrats Kevin!
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In response to Tammy, you assume that Kelowna voters are always right so therefore I must be wrong. I don’t see it that way. I agree with you that most residents don’t see eye to eye with me on policy, but only time will tell which one of us is right. So far, I think I’m winning on that score as I predicted a long time ago that Kelowna’s rapid growth would result in a decline in sense of community, a symptom of which is low voter turnout. Well, we all know what the trend has been in recent years.
I’m happy to be “out of touch” with the Kelowna electorate. If I thought like most of them do at present, I would wonder what I was doing wrong.
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And I forgot to add that I wouldn’t boast too much about Kevin’s victory. As he only got 28% of the vote, that means that 72% of voters in this election voted for someone other than Kevin. I can’t remember a recent election where someone got elected to city council with only 28% of the vote. If a single transferrable vote system were in place in this election, I doubt that Kevin would have prevailed as I think that he got in because of a vote split between Todd Sanderson and Vern Nielsen, not that I supported either one of them. So, your saying that Kevin is the face of the new, emerging Kelowna is just wishful thinking on your part. But it is important to keep a positive attitude in a city that is definitely on the skids, and with an 11% voter turnout probably doesn’t have the right to call itself a community anymore as there hardly is any sense of community left here.
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Congratulations, Kevin. You are an impresive person and I know you worked very hard for this. Your enthusiasm will be a welcome addition to council.
Please continue discussion on the forum: link