UPDATE: Liberal candidate Steve Housser has conceded
UPDATE: With a little less than half of the polls reporting in, Sonia Furstenau has taken a lead for the Greens the first time tonight ahead of the NDP’s Lori Iannidinardo.
The Cowichan Valley race remains too close to call.
UPDATE: Incumbent Doug Routley of the NDP has been declared elected in Nanaimo-North Cowichan. More to come.
As of 8 p.m. polls have now closed in the Cowichan Valley’s two ridings of Cowichan Valley and Nanaimo-North Cowichan.
Now begins the counting of the ballots and the biting of the fingernails for our MLA hopefuls.
The Citizen and the Gazette will be bringing you coverage of the results as they come in, with reporting from Ladysmith’s Mike Gregory on our Nanaimo-North Cowichan riding, and Kevin Rothbauer reporting from the Green Party’s gathering for Sonia Furstenau, Robert Barron reporting from Liberal Steve Housser’s headquarters, and Lexi Bainas filling us in from NDP hopeful Lori Iannidinardo, in what we’re predicting will be a tight race in the Cowichan Valley riding.
In the hotly contested Cowichan Valley riding, the NDP’s Lori Iannidinardo has taken a very early lead over Sonia Furstenau of the Green Party and Steve Housser of the BC Liberals.
Stay tuned for updates, and check out Twitter and Facebook for colour from our reporters.