Four candidates have been declared for the upcoming Cherry Creek byelection in the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD).
Both Darren DeLuca and Mike Sparrow will be running again in the byelection. In the 2022 municipal election, Sparrow won the race against DeLuca by only four votes. A review of the voting book following the election showed that some voter registration forms were not filled in correctly, which led the B.C. Supreme Court to declare the election invalid.
DeLuca and Sparrow will be joined by two new faces, as both Jen Smith and Tom Verbrugge have filed their nomination papers for the byelection. Smith ran for school board in the 2022 municipal election and narrowly missed out on obtaining a seat.
Verbrugge, meanwhile, ran for mayor of the City of Port Alberni and lost to incumbent Sharie Minions.
The ACRD is set to officially declare a byelection on Feb. 13, after the deadline for nomination challenges (Feb. 7) and the deadline for withdrawal of candidates (Feb. 10).
The byelection will take place on Saturday, March 11, but there will be early voting opportunities on March 1 and March 8. All voting days will take place from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. at the Cherry Creek Hall (3720 Moore Rd).