Second place finisher Bruce McDonald outspent winner Vicki Huntington by a wide margin in this spring's provincial election campaign in Delta South.
Elections BC released the financial disclosure statements of provincial election candidates last week, which detailed how much each obtained in cash and inkind contributions as well as how much they spent.
According to Liberal candidate McDonald's documents, he received $107,897 and spent that entire amount.
His largest contributions included $5,000 from Westshore Terminals, which also gave him $2,000 for his successful 2011 Delta council election campaign, Millennium Pacific Greenhouse president Shirvan Bakhtiyari ($3,000) and the New Car
Dealers Association of B.C. ($2,500). He also received $2,000 from TSI Terminal System Inc. and $1,500 from Dayhu Investments Ltd., which got approval from Delta council last year to build a huge commercial distribution centre at Boundary Bay Airport.
Huntington got just over $74,300 in contributions, spending $70,400.
The independent was the biggest single contributor to her campaign, giving over $8,500 from her own pocket. Her other big contributors included the Sundance Banquet Hall, where she held her victory party, at $2,000, and Terminal Systems Inc at $1,000.
Third place finisher Nic Slater, the NDP's candidate in Delta South, spent just over $34,600.
Huntington, who was the only independent elected this year, beat McDonald by a 2,500-vote margin. She received 48 per cent of the vote compared to McDonald's 37 per cent, while Slater finished with 15 per cent.
The Greens and Conservatives didn't run a candidate in Delta South out of respect
for Huntington, who also made history by becoming the first independent to be re-elected to the legislature.
Province-wide, the NDP received $9.3 million from all donors, eclipsing the $8.3 million raised by the Liberals. However, the victorious Liberals spent $11.75 million, well ahead of the New Democrats, who spent $9.4 million.
