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Why one North Okanagan town is now facing triple election 2026
While BC residents have voiced their disdain of having to endure two elections this month, residents of Lumby will soon be heading back to the polls for a third time after the village’s mayor won a seat in the legislature.
On Oct. 24, Mayor of Lumby Kevin Acton beat incumbent NDP MLA Harwinder Sandhu in the provincial election, his second election victory this month.
A week earlier, Acton won the Lumby mayoral race, a position he’s held since first being elected mayor in 2009.
Acton said he will continue to be the mayor until he is sworn in as an MLA, which will happen sometime next month.
“Then I’ll have to resign as the mayor, and that’ll trip… (a) by-election,” Acton said.
Lumby councillor Randal Ostafichuk told iNFOnews.ca he would be running for the mayor’s seat.
“In the absence of Kevin (Acton), I want to make sure that we’ve got stability moving forward in the village,” Ostafichuk said. “I will gladly take the reins and continue where he left off.”
Ostafichuk was first voted in as a councillor in 2011, and will now give up his council seat to run for mayor. Come the by-election, Lumby voters will be casting ballots not just for a new mayor but also a new councillor.
Following provincial rules, Acton estimated a by-election would likely take place mid-January.
All four of Lumby’s councillors were acclaimed, but Acton wasn’t concerned no one would step up to the plate.
“I think most people didn’t run, just out of the fact that they’re happy with what’s going on right now. But whenever there’s a seat that actually opens up, it brings a whole bunch of people out,” he said. “I think you’ll see a lot of interest.”
Acton took 75% of the vote to become mayor, beating his only challenger, Bradley Weston, who previously ran for mayor in 2022.
Weston, who has posted numerous conspiracy theories online, wasn’t immediately available to see if he would run again.
The situation in Lumby is unique and was created after the former NDP government called an election even though a municipal election was taking place.
Acton, who’d previously run provincially as an independent after the collapse of BC United, was running as mayor when he also decided to take a shot at getting a seat in Victoria for the BC Conservatives.
At the time, he said he didn’t want to stand down and let the mayor’s seat go to an unchallenged candidate.
Acton said he was still committed to covering the cost of the by-election, which he estimated to cost between $5,000 and $10,000.
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4 responses
Ben Bulmer and InfoNews are obviously bought and paid for media. Always catering to these career politicians and protecting their image when they are misusing our tax dollars and putting us in deep debt that we didn’t apply or ask for while they try to slander the one man who has stepped up to the plate in an effot to hold them accountable.
It is illegal for a candidate, politician or any other individual to pay for an election or byelection. The Municipality is legally required to fund the byelection with tax dollars. Acton can not pay for it himself. ElectionsBC should take action against Kevin Acton for stating he will personally pay for a byelection and his stating he would pay for it, right before the election looks and smells a lot like vote buying.
Try writing a news article based on facts and show us these “conpiracies theories” you speak with regards to your claims about Weston. I watched the instagram interview you added about him in this article and literally everything he says is factual.
Hi, another piece, where whoever is writing it had to bring up Brad Weston again..so then I question if this is neutral reporting, or is there an agenda behind it..Probably wise for the people of Lumby to find out what is really going on in the counsel….and know what they will be voting for in the upcoming bi-election.
Hi, another piece, where whoever is writing it had to bring up Brad Weston again..so then I question if this is neutral reporting, or is there an agenda behind it..Probably wise for the people of Lumby to find out what is really going in the counsel….and know what they will be voting for in the upcoming bi-election.
The mayor’s race is over. Kevin won with 75% and he’s headed to Victoria. Brad hasn’t said a word about running in the by-election, and this story still goes out of its way to take a shot at him.
The article is about Kevin’s by-election and Randal stepping up. Then there’s one line about a guy who isn’t running for anything, just to remind everyone of a label. What does that add to the story?
Kevin says an open seat “brings a whole bunch of people out.” Does it? Shots like this are exactly why people don’t run. Brad put his name forward because he cares about the village he lives in. That’s it. The election’s over, and he’s still getting dragged into a story that has nothing to do with him.
Shame on Kevin and shame on Randal for staying quiet about it. They’re both quoted in this story. If they really want more people stepping up, they should be the first to tell iNFOnews this isn’t how Lumby does things.
Cut out the hit pieces on regular residents who haven’t even said anything, and maybe a whole bunch of people will come out. Until then, stories like this are why they don’t.