Frank Caputo re-elected in Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola

Frank Caputo is going back to Ottawa for his second term as Member of Parliament for the newly created riding of Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola which encompasses Merritt and surrounding area.

The former Crown prosecutor, who was the incumbent MP in the defunct Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo riding, had 30,104 votes (51.8 per cent) with 92 per cent of the polls reporting.

“Wow, I’m feeling overwhelmed,” Caputo told CFJC Today. “It’s such an honour to go back to the House of Commons as MP-elect.”

“I mean, I’ve said it so many times tonight that ‘you know, who am I that the people of Kamloops-Thompson-Nicola would place their trust in me? That they would put an ‘X’ beside my name? Somebody who grew up on the north shore of Kamloops, the child of Italian immigrants.”

Caputo also said while he is grateful to the people who have put their trust in him, he wants to earn the trust of the people who didn’t vote for him.

“My goal will be to unite all Canadians, particularly the people in this riding to represent them to the best of my ability,” he said.

Liberal candidate Iain Currie was second with 23,168 votes (39.9 per cent), while the NDP’s Miguel Godau was in third with 3,490 votes (six per cent).

“It was a big challenge in a short period of time and it was a tremendous amount of work,” Currie said of the grueling 37-day campaign.

“There was some predictions that it would have been a Liberal majority and that would have been good for the country but I also think its a real opportunity to move forward with a collaborative parliament.”

Currie also pointed to the gains made by the Liberal party in the Kamloops area.

“This is going to go down as the most successful Liberal campaign in this area since Len Marchand was our MP,” Currie said.

Back in 1974, Len Marchard was elected to his third term as MP of the erstwhile Kamloops-Cariboo riding with 41.73 per cent of the vote. Marchard was elected with 40.48 per cent of the vote in 1968, his first term as MP, and 35.19 per cent of the vote in 1972.

The Green Party’s Jenna Lindley and Chris Enns of the PPC were fourth and fifth with 883 (1.5 per cent) and 483 (0.8 per cent) votes respectively.

More to come

– With files from Dylana Kneeshaw and Michael Reeve