Conservative Amelia Boultbee wins in Penticton-Summerland

Voters in Penticton-Summerland riding have elected its first Conservative MLA in decades. Amelia Boultbee beat out BC NDP candidate Tina Lee, Green Party candidate Bradley Bartsch, and Independent candidates Tracy St. Claire, Roger Harrington and Anna Paddon. All election results are preliminary, the final tally won’t be known until mail in votes are counted. For over a decade, MLA Dan Ashton held the position with both the BC Liberal Party and the BC United Party, but didn’t seek re-election this year. New to the political stage, Boultbee’s win is significant as the riding hasn’t been Conservative since the 1940s https://infotel.ca/newsitem/bc-election-2024-penticton-summerland-could-turn-conservative-blue-for-first-time-in-decades/it106748 . The last time a Conservative Party candidate ran in the riding was in 2013 with Sean Upshaw who only claimed nine per cent of the votes. Boultbee was born and raised in Penticton https://www.electamelia.com/ and is completing her first term as a Penticton City Councillor. Her education is in political science and law, and she was a lawyer for six years in downtown Vancouver prior to moving back to Penticton. She plans to address the issues of crime, lack of housing and the opioid crisis. She believes in responsible housing development, supporting small businesses and attracting diverse industries to the area. She also believes in rolling back the carbon tax. Last month, Boultbee was in the media after a dispute https://infotel.ca/newsitem/elections-bc-throws-cold-water-on-feud-between-penticton-candidates/it106644 with Independent opponent Tracy St. Claire over the colours of St. Claire’s campaign signage, and even retained a lawyer to push St. Claire to take corrective action. St. Claire repurposed her former United Party’s sign but used the same party colours, however Elections BC did not take issue with the signs. Boultbee's win isn't a big surprise as she led the polls for the duration of the provincial campaign period. To contact a reporter for this story, email Shannon Ainslie mailto:sainslie@infonews.ca  or call 250-819-6089 or email the editor mailto:news@infonews.ca . You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom mailto:tips@infonews.ca  and be entered to win a monthly prize draw. We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above. SUBSCRIBE to our awesome newsletter here https://infotel.ca/newsletter .