Conservative Party of Canada candidate Claire Rattée took more votes in Kitimat due to her hometown advantage than Skeena - Bulkley Valley New Democratic MP incumbent Taylor Bachrach in the Sept. 20 federal election, poll-by-poll results from Elections Canada reveal.
It was a repeat of the 2019 federal election when Rattée defeated Bachrach in Kitimat the first time the two faced each other.
Bachrach did, however, win the riding for the second time, following up on his first victory in 2019.
Not including the advance poll, Rattée collected 896 votes in Kitimat while Bachrach received 682 votes on Sept. 20, roughly the same ratio as the 1,127 votes Rattée got in 2019 compared to Bachrach’s 892.
A second Kitimat candidate, Jody Craven from the People’s Party of Canada, picked up 113 votes this time, more than the 96 he collected in 2019.
Bachrach may have come up short in Kitimat but he was the winner in Kitamaat Village with 135 votes to Rattée’s 5.
That was much the same result compared to 2019 when Bachrach received 146 votes and Rattée 15.
Three people voted for Craven this time, one more than in 2019.
Coming third in Kitimat in this election was Liberal parachute candidate Lakhwinder Jhaj who received 174 votes. Rod Taylor of the Christian Heritage Party collected 24 votes while Green candidate Adeana Young received 39 votes.
Jhaj received 13 votes in Kitimaat Village and Young six votes there while Taylor was shut out.
It was a reverse story in Terrace where Bachrach repeated his 2019 federal election victory over Rattée, collecting 1,335 votes to Rattée’s 1,125 votes.
But Bachrach lost Thornhill for the second time with 483 votes compared to Rattée’s 626.
Coming third in Terrace was Liberal Lakhwinder Jhaj with 278 votes while People’s Party of Canada candidate Jody Craven was fourth with 192 votes.
Craven did come in third in Thornhill thanks to 93 votes, just ahead of Liberal Jhaj’s 80 votes.
Christian Heritage Party candidate Rod Taylor took 51 votes in Terrace and 16 in Thornhill while Adeana Young of the Green party had 94 votes in Terrace and 40 in Thornhill.
Across the riding, Bachrach received 15,921 votes for 42.6 per cent of all the votes cast. Rattée received 13,513 votes or 36.1 per cent. Voter turnout was 55.7 per cent, less than the 62.7 per cent in the 2019 federal election.
In 2019, Bachrach received 16,944 votes or 40.9 per cent of the turnout with Rattée collecting 13,756 votes for 33.2 per cent of the turnout.
When comparing the 2019 results to 2021 and based on percentage of votes received, Rattée closed a gap of 7.7 per cent between herself and Bachrach to 6.5 per cent this time around.
Liberal candidate Lakhwinder Jhaj and People’s Party of Canada candidate Jody Craven were tied on a percentage basis of 7.8 per cent although Craven received four more votes, 2,794 to Jhaj’s 2,790 votes.
Craven’s showing was much better than in 2019 when he received 940 votes or 2.3 per cent of the voter turnout.
Rod Taylor of the Christian Heritage Party, a perennial candidate, received 754 votes or 2.1 per cent of the turnout compared to 1,350 votes or 3.3 per cent of the turnout in 2019.
Green candidate Adeana Young received 1,355 votes or 3.8 per cent of the turnout. In 2019, Green candidate Mike Sawyer received 3,280 votes or 7.9 per cent.