BC Liberal Greg Kyllo spent more on his election campaign than Premier Christy Clark — if you only count her first campaign for Vancouver Point Grey.
Kyllo spent a total of $113,280 on his successful effort to become MLA for the Shuswap according to documents released by Elections BC.
Premier Christy Clark spent a total of $108,765 on her unsuccessful bid for the riding of Vancouver-Point Grey.
The election spending for the candidates in the Shuswap also mirrored the eventual results. The more a candidate spent on the campaign, the better their ranking in the polls.
The NDP’s Steve Gunner spent a total of $36,495 on the campaign, BC Conservative Tom Birch spent $12,892, BC Green Party’s Chris George spent $9,354 and Johanna Zalcik of the Advocational Party spent $1,096.
To fund his campaign, Kyllo had $34,734 contributed from all sources and $82,763 transferred directly from the BC Liberal Party.
Gunner had a total of $4,800 in contributions, while $32,668 was transferred to his campaign from the BC NDP and the Shuswap BC NDP Constituency Association.
BC Conservative Tom Birch received contributions of $6,985 from the BC Conservative Party and the BC Conservative Party Shuswap Association, while he self-funded $4,290 and had donations for the remainder.
George also self-funded a significant portion of his campaign at $3,022. The remainder was funded through donations or local fundraisers, including a movie screening at the Salmar Classic.
Zalcik’s campaign spending was listed as self-funded.