Randall Garrison’s popularity within Esquimalt likely helped bolster him to a narrow win in last Monday’s federal election.
The municipal councillor could be his riding’s new MP, if preliminary election results stand firm. Running under the NDP banner, Garrison eked just 406 more votes than his Conservative competitor Troy DeSouza, who was favoured to win the Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca riding this time. Both have campaigned in the federal riding twice before.
While Garrison might have been aided by his presence on Esquimalt’s council, the same can’t be said for Liberal candidate and Langford councillor, who snagged just 10 per cent of the total vote and didn’t pull remarkable numbers in any one municipality; not even Langford.
Green Shaunna Salsman gained 8.3 per cent of the riding’s votes.
Esquimalt-Juan de Fuca’s two candidates from non-major Canadian parties – Christopher Porter from the Canadian Action Party and independent Louis Lesosky –145 and 181 votes, respectively.
Here’s a breakdown of the tight race between Garrison and DeSouza last week, with the number of polling stations each candidate won, divided by municipality.
Equimalt – 36 polling stations. Garrison 35, DeSouza 1
Colwood – 27 polling stations. DeSouza 20, Garrison 7
Langford – 48 polling stations. DeSouza 28, Garrison 20
Sooke – 26 polling stations. Garrison 18, DeSouza 7, tie 1
Saanich – 65 polling stations. Garrison 39, DeSouza 26
View Royal – 18 polling stations. DeSouza 11, Garrison 7
Metchosin – 7 polling stations. Garrison 6, DeSouza 1
Per cent of the vote, per municipality, per candidate:
*calculations don’t include advance polls, except overall numbers:
Garrison
DeSouza
Szpak
Salsman
Colwood
37.1
46.5
8.9
6.3
Esquimalt
53.1 27.6 8.9
9.3
Langford
38.4 43.6 8.9
7.1
Saanich 43.5 35.6 9.1
11.2
Sooke
41.8 39.4 8.2
9.7
View Royal
40.1 40.8 10.1
6.9
Overall 40.9 40.2 10.0
8.3