Leader of the Conservative Party of B.C. John Rustad has won the Nechako Lakes riding. 

This marks Rustad's re-election in the Nechako Lakes riding, which he has held since 2005, first as a BC Liberal MLA and then briefly as an Independent before he went on to become a conservative . This is the first time, Rustad will hold Nechako Lakes riding as a Conservative. 

Rustad was kicked out of the Opposition BC United Party for his support on social media of an outspoken climate change critic in 2022, and last year was acclaimed as the B.C. Conservative leader. Buoyed by the BC United party suspending its campaign, and the popularity of Pierre PoilievreB次元官网网址檚 federal Conservatives, Rustad led his party into contention in the provincial election.

Nechako Lakes residents came out on Saturday to cast their ballot to choose their representative in Victoria. 

This year the three Nechako Lakes candidates included Rustad, B.C. Green Party candidate Douglas Gook and B.C. NDP's Murphy Abraham. 

In Vanderhoof, the morning had an ominous start with the rainbow crosswalk outside the polling station defaced with messages of 'save the kids' and 'speak truth.'

The voter turnout for BC Elections in Fort St. James was strikingly low, despite the pleasant autumn weather and overcast skies.. However, the Fort St. James Senior Centre which was open for advanced voting the previous week for a total of four days, saw a very busy line-up. 

A record-breaking turnout was seen during advanced voting. Roughly 1,001,331 people cast their ballot during the six days of advanced voting that ended Wednesday,  This also marks the first provincial election with new riding boundaries, which increased the number of seats in the legislature to 93 from 87.

-With files from the Canadian Press