Nominations are closed and the ballot is set. Kelowna West voters will now have to make their choice from the roster of candidates vying for their support the 2020 B.C. election.
Below is a brief description of each candidate, ordered alphabetically by last name, who has been confirmed by Elections BC. Election day is Oct. 24.
READ MORE: Who’s running in Kelowna-Mission?
READ MORE: Who’s running in Kelowna-Lake Country?
Matt Badura — BC Libertarian Party
Matt Badura will run for the BC Libertarians in Kelowna West.
Badura has been a Kelowna resident for the past four years. He works as a project manager in the construction industry.
Spring Hawes — BC NDP
Spring Hawes will be running for the BC NDP in the Kelowna West riding.
Hawes is currently a mortgage broker in the Okanagan but was formally an Invermere city councillor. She once went after the Columbia River-Revelstoke BC NDP nomination in 2016 but was defended by Invermere Mayor Gerry Taft.
While in Invermere, Hawes owned and ran a health food store for 12 years and spent seven years as chair of Access in the Community for Equality in the Upper Columbia Valley. Currently she resides on the board of the non-profit Accessible Okanagan and she previously sat on the board for Interior Health.
Magee Mitchell — Independent
Magee Mitchell will be running as an independent in Kelowna West. More information will be provided as it becomes available.
Ben Stewart — BC Liberal Party
Ben Stewart is looking to retain his seat in Victoria for the BC Liberals.
Stewart is currently the official opposition co-critic for citizen services and trade. He has served two terms in the legislature. He was re-elected after his first term from 2009 to 2013 but stepped aside after then-premier Christy Clark lost her Vancouver seat, allowing her to run in — and win — a by-election. He then served as B.C.’s “special representative in Asia” to act as the province’s official on-the-ground representative in China, Japan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia.
He was re-elected again in a 2018 by-election after Clark stepped down following the BC NDP’s formation of a minority government with the Green Party.
Peter Truch — BC Green Party
Peter Truch is running for the BC Green Party in Kelowna West.
Truch is a former transportation and mobility specialist with the City of Kelowna and is currently an independent mobility engineer and urban planner.
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