Row upon row of French oak wine barrels provided the backdrop as Liberal Party faithful gathered in the heart of Quails’ Gate winery in West Kelowna to cheer on the party’s candidate, Ben Stewart, in the new riding of Westside-Kelowna.

Roars of support echoed loudly through the winery’s main warehouse as the first poll came in showing a large lead for Stewart over his closest challenger, Tish Lakes of the NDP.

Stewart maintained a two-to-one spread throughout the evening.

Cheers grew louder as successive polls came in showing Stewart was holding his lead.

Speaking to the media after he was projected the winner by the media, Stewart, Quails’ Gate’s proprietor, thanked those who worked to get him elected.

“We worked as if we were one vote behind every single day,” said Stewart.

“Between the end of February and (Monday) we probably knocked on 7,000 doors in the community.”

Stewart said that he’s a fresh face in politics, and brings 35 years of business experience to the MLA position.

Offering proof of his success, he said he fought back from the ill effects of the Free-Trade Agreement to build Quails’ Gate winery into a strong business.

Stewart will replace former revenue and small business minister Rick Thorpe, who represented the old riding of Okanagan-Westside and chose not to run in this election.

Thorpe was called a hardworking MLA, by many of his constituents and Stewart said he’s up to the task of picking up where Thorpe left off.

Meanwhile, Lakes congratulated Stewart, saying he’s has a good reputation in the community.

“I was never running against Ben Stewart. I was running against the policies of (Liberal leader) Gordon Campbell and the B.C. Liberals.”

Lakes said she will be referring people to Stewart’s office in the years to come.

“I hope he will be able to challenge some of the policies of Gordon Campbell and find a voice in caucus.”

As of press deadline, 125 of 150 polls were reporting in with Stewart leading Lakes 6,296 votes to 3,544. Conservative Peter Neville had 1,055 votes and Robin McKim of the Green Party had 1,045.

jluciw@kelownacapnews.com