Macklin McCall of BC Conservatives elected in West Kelowna–Peachland

(UPDATE: Oct. 19 at 9:22 pm): All but one of the ballot boxes in West Kelowna–Peachland have now been counted.

The results are as follows:

• BC Conservatives: Macklin McCall: 13,028 / 51 per cent
• BC NDP: Krystal Smith: 7,035 / 27.54 per cent
• Independent: Stephen Johnston: 5,480 / 21.45 per cent

(UPDATE: Oct. 19 at 8:42 pm): Macklin McCall has won the battle to become West Kelowna–Peachland MLA.

With 14 of 22 ballot boxes counted, McCall has 50.78 per cent of the votes, enough for KelownaNow to call it for the former RCMP officer.

In second place is the BC NDP's Krystal Smith with 27.29 per cent.

Third is West Kelowna councillor Stephen Johnston, with 21.93 per cent of the vote.

(UPDATE: Oct. 19 at 8:29 pm): The results are coming in very fast.

Current totals, after nine of 22 ballot boxes have been counted:

• BC Conservatives: Macklin McCall: 3,786 / 50.55 per cent
• BC NDP: Krystal Smith: 2,048 / 27.35 per cent
• Independent: Stephen Johnston: 1,655 / 22.10 per cent

(Original story: Oct. 19 at 8:19 pm): The BC Conservatives’ candidate in West Kelowna–Peachland is ahead in the preliminary election results this evening.

Macklin McCall, a former RCMP officer, has 59.32 per cent of the vote so far. Elections BC is reporting results from two of 22 ballot boxes.

Trailing him are independent – and former BC United – candidate Stephen Johnston (16.25 per cent) and the BC NDP’s Krystal Smith (24.42 per cent).

McCall was announced as the candidate for the BC Conservatives in the winter. He grew up on a farm in Okanagan Falls and spent nearly two decades as a cop, including 15 years in West Kelowna.

"All the issues that people are having, I was getting a front-row seat," McCall told KelownaNow earlier this year.

McCall, however, has taken a certain amount of heat for his reluctance to be interviewed by the press. One of his rivals in the riding, Johnston, told KelownaNow earlier this month he considered McCall’s approach to the media “very disrespectful to the electorate.”

Johnston has served as a councillor in West Kelowna for more than six years, and ran a close second in the 2014 mayoral election in that city.

He told KelownaNow he was “fully expecting” to be selected by the Conservatives after Kevin Falcon suspended the BC United election campaign.

That didn’t happen, however, leading to Johnston’s decision to run as an independent.

Smith, meanwhile, is a BC NDP employee who lives in Kelowna and has childhood memories of West Kelowna.

She said her main concerns are “affordability, housing, healthcare."

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.

McCall’s press team has said he will not be available for interview tonight.