---
title: "Conservative Cathie Ounsted leads Saanich South, flipping a seat NDP held since 2009"
description: "Cathie Ounsted of the Conservative Party leads Saanich South with 10,549 votes to BC NDP candidate Richard Zussman's 9,322, with all 81 ballot boxes counted in the preliminary count, Elections BC shows. The final count is November 6."
canonical_url: "https://voche.me/bc/provincial-2026/news/saanich-south-conservative-flip-ounsted-bc-election-2026"
last_updated: "2026-10-25T14:33:54.276Z"
---

Conservative [Cathie Ounsted](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/cathie-ounsted) leads [Saanich South](/bc/provincial-2026/races/mla/saanich-south) in Elections BC's preliminary count, ahead of BC NDP candidate [Richard Zussman](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/richard-zussman). The BC NDP held the seat since 2009.

Elections BC shows all 81 ballot boxes in Saanich South reported as of 1:49 a.m. Pacific on October 25.

## The count

<table>
<thead>
  <tr>
    <th>
      Candidate
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Party
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Votes
    </th>
    
    <th>
      Share
    </th>
  </tr>
</thead>

<tbody>
  <tr>
    <td>
      Cathie Ounsted
    </td>
    
    <td>
      Conservative Party of BC
    </td>
    
    <td>
      10,549
    </td>
    
    <td>
      39.24%
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Richard Zussman
    </td>
    
    <td>
      BC NDP
    </td>
    
    <td>
      9,322
    </td>
    
    <td>
      34.68%
    </td>
  </tr>
  
  <tr>
    <td>
      Lisa Lapointe
    </td>
    
    <td>
      BC Green Party
    </td>
    
    <td>
      6,985
    </td>
    
    <td>
      25.98%
    </td>
  </tr>
</tbody>
</table>

Total valid votes: 26,856. These are Elections BC's numbers as of 1:49 a.m. Pacific on October 25, 2026.

These numbers are preliminary. Elections BC does not count mail-in, telephone or absentee ballots on election night. The final count is set for November 6, 2026.

## Zussman

[Richard Zussman](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/richard-zussman) left journalism to run for the [BC NDP](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-ndp) in Saanich South. Daily Hive reported he worked at Global BC and CKNW Radio, where he covered the legislature. This was his first campaign for office.

He received 9,322 votes, 34.68 per cent of the preliminary count in Saanich South.

## Lapointe

[Lisa Lapointe](/bc/provincial-2026/candidates/lisa-lapointe) ran for the [BC Green Party](/bc/provincial-2026/parties/bc-green-party). Daily Hive reported she was the former B.C. Chief Coroner. She received 6,985 votes, 25.98 per cent of the preliminary count.

## The final count

Elections BC does not count mail-in, telephone or absentee ballots in the preliminary count. Those ballots are processed about two weeks after voting day, after extra verification steps. Elections BC has set the final count for November 6, 2026.

In Saanich South, Ounsted's preliminary lead of 1,227 votes over Zussman means the seat's outcome could still shift before November 6 if the remaining mail-in and absentee ballots favour one candidate by a large margin.

The [Saanich South](/bc/provincial-2026/races/mla/saanich-south) district page on this site lists all three candidates and will be updated as the count continues. Elections BC publishes its count at results.elections.bc.ca, updated every three minutes during counting.

## Sitemap

See the full [sitemap](/bc/provincial-2026/sitemap.md) for all pages.