Newly elected Abbotsford West MLA Korky Neufeld told a crowd of supporters on Saturday night (Oct. 19) that the Conservatives “gave back hope” to voters.
Neufeld celebrated his victory at Ledgeview Golf Club in Abbotsford with fellow elected Conservatives Bruce Banman (Abbotsford South) and Reann Gasper (Abbotsford-Mission).
In his acceptance speech, Neufeld recalled how B.C. Conservative leader John Rustad approached him in September 2023 to see if he would consider running for the party.
“I heard John’s passion; I heard his compassion for the people in this province, when our children can’t afford to live in this province anymore – the crisis that is all too real,” Neufeld said.
“In every corner, in every sector of this province, people were losing or had lost hope, and the Conservative Party spoke their language and said, ‘We’re hearing you. We’re listening to you.’ We gave them back hope.”
He said now begins the “real work of positive change” and “it’s going to be very painful.”
“This election is going to give us the mandate to do the things that we promised to do,” Neufeld said.
“ … I’m your voice, and together we can make changes necessary to benefit everyone in our community and province.”
Preliminary counts show Neufeld had 11,224 votes, compared to 6,948 votes for the NDP's Graeme Hutchison and 914 votes for independent James Davison.
The riding was previously held for 30 years by Mike de Jong (Liberals/BC United), who announced in February that he was retiring from provincial politics.
He then announced in April that he is seeking the federal Conservative nomination for the Abbotsford-South Langley riding being vacated by retiring long-time MP Ed Fast. The federal election is slated for October 2025.
Neufeld is currently serving his fifth term as a trustee with the Abbotsford school district.
He told The Abbotsford News he will be in discussions next week to determine whether he will step down from that position, which would trigger a byelection.
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