With all 21 polls reported, Andy Hobbs won the Richmond byelection in what turned out to be a close, three-way race.
Hobbs received 3,095 votes, and in second place was Jonathan Ho with 2,785 votes. Just 18 votes behind Ho was Karina Reid with 2,767 votes.
As results came in, Hobbs and Ho took turns leading in the polls with Karina Reid in second place at some points.
Hobbs, who will sit on city council until the next general election in October 2022, said he’s “humbled and very excited at the same time” to be elected to Richmond city council.
Hobbs chalked up his victory to his long-time volunteer service and deep roots in the community.
But he said his first priority will be to get up to speed as he is joining council “in the middle of the game.”
“Everyone else is up to speed on what’s going on - I have a big learning curve,” he said.
Hobbs was endorsed in the byelection by Richmond Mayor Malcolm Brodie and three councillors, Linda McPhail, Bill McNulty and Alexa Loo.
While Hobbs was backed by more right-leaning councillors, he pointed out he had support from across the board, including Linda Barnes, a former city councillor who ran on the Richmond Citizen Association slate.
He also served on the board of education with Coun. Chak Au and went to high school with Coun. Carol Day, he pointed out.
Hobbs said he would like to see council work together in a “united way” doing “what’s best for the community.”
Reid was backed by three recently elected NDP MLAs, Kelly Greene – whose election to the B.C. legislation triggered the election – Aman Singh and Henry Yao.
She was also endorsed by several unions, whereas the Richmond fire fighters union backed Hobbs.
There were 13,002 votes cast in the byelection, which translates to about 10 per cent voter turnout.
Richmond byelection results:
Andy Hobbs (elected): 3,095
Jonathan Ho: 2,785
Karina Reid: 2,767
Ken Hamaguchi: 1,515
Kay Hale: 708
Sunny Ho: 693
Jennifer Huang: 655
John Roston: 446
Mark Lee: 239
Dennis Page: 81
The results are considered “unofficial” until June 2 when the official results will be publicized by the city.
