In his pre-election interview with the Jewish Independent, B.C. Green party leader Andrew Weaver acknowledged his ideal scenario might be to hold the balance of power in a minority legislature.
The results of the May 9 election were in fact so tight that the outcome will not be known until at least May 24, and even then additional recounts may hold up final determination of what the new government will look like. Pending the counting of absentee ballots and at least two judicial recounts, the results have the incumbent B.C. Liberals under Premier Christy Clark with 43 seats, the NDP under John Horgan 41 and the Greens with three seats.
For Jewish community members running in the election (and profiled by the Independent prior to the vote), the results were a draw. New Democrat George Heyman, MLA for Vancouver-Fairview, was re-elected, defeating another member of the Jewish community, Liberal Gabe Garfinkel.
Green candidate Michael Barkusky was defeated in Vancouver-Quilchena. And, in Coquitlam-Maillardville, New Democrat Selina Robinson was re-elected, defeating her Liberal challenger by about 2,500 votes – a comparative landslide compared with her 2013 margin of 41 votes, which was the closest race in the province.
Vancouver-Langara Liberal MLA Moira Stilwell did not seek re-election.