VANCOUVER — It was a landslide victory in the last election in Powell River-Sunshine Coast when Nicholas Simons of the NDP took 50.70 per cent of the vote, defeating Mathew Wilson of the BC Liberal Party by a margin of 26.17 percentage points.

Simons is up for re-election this year. Wilson, however, is not running again.

Kim Darwin is the candidate for the Green party and Sandra Stoddart-Hansen is running for the BC Liberal Party.

The Powell River-Sunshine Coast riding includes the communities of Powell River, Gibsons, Sechelt, Roberts Creek and Welcome Beach.

There are 41,282 registered voters in the riding, compared to 38,778 in the last election.

As of Oct. 20, 8,339 vote-by-mail packages had been issued to registered voters.

The previous voter turnout rate in the riding was 69.6 per cent, compared to 61.18 per cent provincewide.

At dissolution, the NDP held 41 seats, the BC Liberal Party had 41 seats and the Green party two seats. Two seats were held by Independents and one seat was vacant.

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Last election statistics at a glance: 

Previous candidates (in order of rank):

1. Simons, Nicholas

Affiliation: NDP

Total valid votes: 13,646

Vote share: 50.70 per cent

2. Wilson, Mathew

Affiliation: BC Liberal Party

Total valid votes: 6,602

Vote share: 24.53 per cent

3. Darwin, Kim

Affiliation: Green party

Total valid votes: 6,505

Vote share: 24.17 per cent

4. Richards, Reuben

Affiliation: BC Cascadia Party

Total valid votes: 160

Vote share: 0.59 per cent

Previous riding statistics at a glance: 

Total registered voters: 38,778

Total registered voters who voted: 26,991

Voter turnout: 69.6 per cent

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2020 and was generated automatically.

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Digital Data Desk, The Canadian Press