# Kootenay Central

Kootenay Central is a provincial electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada.
It made its first appearance under the name Nelson-Creston in the general election of 1933 following a redistribution of the earlier Nelson and Creston ridings.
Historically, the riding was consistently held by the "free enterprise" party of the era. Until 1952, this alternated between the BC Liberals and the Coalition, while after the election in 1952, Social Credit won every election until the BC NDP victory in 1972.
Since 1972, the NDP has won all but two elections: in the 1986 election, Social Credit won the riding along with many others in the Interior and in 2001, prominent NDP Cabinet minister Corky Evans was defeated in an election that saw all but two NDP MLAs suffer defeat. Since the 2005 election, the NDP has won the riding by wide margins.
The riding adopted its current name and had minor boundary changes from the 2024 election, which implemented the results of the 2021 redistribution.

## Demographics

| Population, 2001 | 44,131 |
| Population change, 1996–2001 | −2.2% |
| Area (km$^2$) | 21,795 |
| Population density (people per km$^2$) | 2.0 |

## Geography

As of the 2024 provincial election, Kootenay Central comprises the eastern portion of the Regional District of Central Kootenay. It is located in southeastern British Columbia and is bordered by the United States to the south. Communities in the electoral district consist of Nelson, Creston, Salmo, and Kaslo.

## Members of the Legislative Assembly

| Assembly | Years | Member | Party |
| Nelson-Creston |||||
| Riding created from Creston and Nelson |||||
| 18th | 1933–1937 | Frank Putnam | Liberal |
| 19th | 1937–1941 | Frank Putnam | Liberal |
| 20th | 1941–1945 | Frank Putnam | Liberal |
| 21st | 1945–1949 | Frank Putnam | Coalition |
| 22nd | 1949–1952 | Walter Hendricks | Coalition |
| 23rd | 1952–1953 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 24th | 1953–1956 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 25th | 1956–1960 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 26th | 1960–1963 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 27th | 1963–1966 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 28th | 1966–1969 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 29th | 1969–1972 | Wesley Drewett Black | Social Credit |
| 30th | 1972–1975 | Lorne Nicolson | New Democratic |
| 31st | 1975–1979 | Lorne Nicolson | New Democratic |
| 32nd | 1979–1983 | Lorne Nicolson | New Democratic |
| 33rd | 1983–1986 | Lorne Nicolson | New Democratic |
| 34th | 1986–1991 | Howard Dirks | Social Credit |
| 35th | 1991–1996 | Corky Evans | New Democratic |
| 36th | 1996–2001 | Corky Evans | New Democratic |
| 37th | 2001–2005 | Blair Suffredine | Liberal |
| 38th | 2005–2009 | Corky Evans | New Democratic |
| 39th | 2009–2013 | Michelle Mungall | New Democratic |
| 40th | 2013–2017 | Michelle Mungall | New Democratic |
| 41st | 2017–2020 | Michelle Mungall | New Democratic |
| 42nd | 2020–2024 | Brittny Anderson | New Democratic |
| Kootenay Central |||||
| 43rd | 2024–present | Brittny Anderson | New Democratic |

## Election results
### Kootenay Central

vte2024 British Columbia general election :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Brittny Anderson | 8,716 | 39.63 | -2.15 |
| | Green | Nicole Charlwood | 4,121 | 18.74 | -13.39 |
| | Conservative | Kelly Vandenbergh | 6,996 | 31.68 | 31.68 |
| | Independent | Corinne Mori | 2,189 | 9.95 | 9.95 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 21,996 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||

### Nelson-Creston

vte2020 British Columbia general election: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Brittny Anderson | 7,296 | 41.78 | −0.41 | $33,391.05 |
| | Green | Nicole Charlwood | 5,611 | 32.13 | +3.97 | $41,086.42 |
| | Liberal | Tanya Finley | 4,171 | 23.89 | −4.04 | $13,163.07 |
| | Libertarian | Terry Tiessen | 384 | 2.20 | – | $0.00 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 17,462 | 100.00 | – |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | | | |
| Registered voters | Registered voters | Registered voters | |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2017 British Columbia general election: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Michelle Mungall | 7,685 | 42.19 | −8.54 | $26,935 |
| | Green | Kim Charlesworth | 5,130 | 28.16 | +7.21 | $7,119 |
| | Liberal | Tanya Rae Wall | 5,087 | 27.93 | −0.39 | $51,781 |
| | Independent | Jesse O'Leary | 164 | 0.90 | – | $1,332 |
| | Independent | Tom Prior | 149 | 0.82 | – | $402 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 18,215 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 67 | 0.37 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,282 | 64.20 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
vte2013 British Columbia general election: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | Expenditures |
| | New Democratic | Michelle Mungall | 8,200 | 50.73 | -4.68 | $58,838 |
| | Liberal | Greg Garbula | 4,577 | 28.32 | -2.12 | $47,428 |
| | Green | Sjeng Derkx | 3,387 | 20.95 | +13.81 | $18,928 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 16,164 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 122 | 0.75 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,286 | 57.63 |
| Source: Elections BC |||||||
BC General Election 2009: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | NDP | Michelle Mungall | 9,060 | 55.83% | −3.97 | $52,366 |
| | Liberal | Josh Smienk | 5,191 | 31.42% | +4.69 | $77,586 |
| | Green | Sean Kubara | 1,189 | 7.20% | −5.22 | $3,800 |
| | Conservative | David Duncan | 1,083 | 6.55% | +6.55 | $2,676 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 16,523 | 100% |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 98 | 0.6% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 16,621 | 60% |
BC General Election 2005: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | NDP | Corky Evans | 12,896 | 58.80% | +26.98 | $59,942 |
| | Liberal | Blair Suffredine | 5,862 | 26.73% | −12.27 | $52,434 |
| | Green | Luke Crawford | 2,724 | 12.42% | −9.11 | $10,212 |
| | Marijuana | Philip McMillan | 276 | 1.26% | – | $100 |
| | Bloc | Brian Taylor | 173 | – | 0.79% | $215 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 21,931 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 137 | 0.62% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,068 | 67.88% |
BC General Election 2001: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | Liberal | Blair Suffredine | 8,558 | 39.00% | +7.53 | $53,478 |
| | NDP | Corky Evans | 6,981 | 31.82% | −13.08 | $46,070 |
| | Green | Colleen McCrory | 4,723 | 21.53% | +10.37 | $33,223 |
| | Unity | Stephen Cox | 1,108 | 5.05% | | $3,216 |
| | Marijuana | Dan Loehndorf | 570 | 2.60% | | $1,400 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 21,940 | 100.00% | | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 79 | 0.36% | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 22,019 | 75.32% | | |
BC General Election 1996: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | NDP | Corky Evans | 9,179 | 44.90% | −2.01 | $42,880 |
| | Liberal | Howard Dirks | 6,434 | 31.47% | +12.29 | $41,078 |
| | Green | Andy Shadrack | 2,282 | 11.16% | +8.61 | $18,611 |
| | Reform | Brian Dale Gaschnitz | 2,114 | 10.34% | | |
| | Family Coalition | Brian John Zacharias | 360 | 1.76% | – | $4,489 |
| | Natural Law | Ruth Anne Taves | 73 | 0.36% | | $398 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 20,442 | 100.00% | | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 82 | 0.40% | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 20,524 | 75.20% | | |
BC General Election 1991: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | Expenditures |
| | NDP | Corky Evans | 8,583 | 46.91% | | $33,620 |
| | Social Credit | Howard Dirks | 5,739 | 31.36% | – | $52,253 |
| | Liberal | Barry L. Neufeld | 3,510 | 19.18% | | $863 |
| | Green | Andrea Wright | 467 | 2.55% | – | $1,082 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 18,299 | 100.00% | | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 428 | 2.29% | | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 18,727 | 80.60% | | |
28th BC General Election 1966: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Social Credit | Wesley Drewett Black | 4683 | 59.3% | – |
| | NDP | Munro | 2324 | 29.4% | |
| | Liberal | A. M. M. Vogel | 892 | 11.3% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7899 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 91 | 1.1% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 7990 | 69.2% | |
27th BC General Election 1963: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Social Credit | Wesley Drewett Black | 4047 | 44.6% | – |
| | NDP | Askevold | 1943 | 21.4% | |
| | Liberal | A. M. M. Vogel | 1600 | 17.7% | |
| | Progressive Conservative | Shorthouse | 1474 | 16.3% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 9064 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 53 | 0.6% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9117 | 75.2% | |
26th BC General Election 1960: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Social Credit | Wesley Drewett Black | 4501 | 49.4% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | McNevin | 2664 | 29.2% | |
| | Liberal | Oliver | 1222 | 13.4% | |
| | Progressive Conservative | Taylor | 730 | 8.0% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 9117 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 106 | 1.1% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 9223 | 76.0% | |
25th BC General Election 1956: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Social Credit | Wesley Drewett Black | 4190 | 51.0% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Affleck | 2331 | 28.4% | |
| | Liberal | White | 1622 | 19.7% | |
| | Labor-Progressive | Mountford | 70 | 0.9% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 8213 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 86 | 1.0% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8299? | 71.0% | |
vte1953 British Columbia general election: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Candidate | Votes 1st count | % | Votes final count | % |
| | Social Credit | Wesley Drewett Black | 3,450 | 39.4 | 4,199 | 55.2 |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Simms | 2,636 | 30.1 | 3,404 | 44.8 |
| | Liberal | Tees | 1,803 | 20.6 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Shorthouse | 772 | 8.8 |
| | Labor–Progressive | Mountford | 99 | 1.1 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 8,760 | 100.00 | 7,603 | 100 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 455 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 88.1 |
| Note: Preferential ballot. First and last counts only shown. |||||||
vte1952 British Columbia general election: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Candidate | Votes 1st count | % | Votes final count | % |
| | Social Credit | Wesley Drewett Black | 2,975 | 33.8 | 4,265 | 56.0 |
| | Liberal | Walter Hendricks | 2,572 | 29.2 | 3,351 | 44.0 |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth | Simms | 2,473 | 28.1 |
| | Progressive Conservative | Stibbs | 774 | 8.8 |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 8,794 | 100.00 | 7,616 | 100.00 |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 413 | 4.5 |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 75.2 |
| Note: Preferential ballot. First and last counts only shown. |||||||
22nd BC General Election 1949: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Coalition | Walter Hendricks | 4783 | 60.0% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Drew | 2675 | 33.6% | |
| | Social Credit | Horne | 508 | 6.4% | – |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 7966 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 151 | 1.9% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 8117 | 79.6% | |
21st BC General Election 1945: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Coalition | Frank Putnam | 3055 | 58.6% | – |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Phillips | 1249 | 24.0% | |
| | People's Co-operative Commonwealth | Peter Stuart Beatt | 726 | 13.9% | |
| | Independent | Frisby | 184 | 3.5% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 5214 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 39 | 0.7% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5253 | 65.0% | |
20th BC General Election 1941: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Frank Putnam | 2144 | 33.5% |
| | Conservative | Donaldson | 2140 | 33.4% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Frisby | 2124 | 33.1% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 6408 | 100.00% |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 89 | 1.4% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 6497 | 76.9% |
19th BC General Election 1937: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± |
| | Liberal | Frank Putnam | 2149 | 39.2% | |
| | Conservative | Horswill | 1901 | 34.6% | |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Bayliss | 1121 | 20.4% | |
| | Social Credit | Howe | 177 | 3.2% | – |
| | Independent | Mulholland | 139 | 2.5% | |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 5487 | 100.00% | |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 61 | 1.1% | |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5548 | 74.5% | |
18th BC General Election 1933: Nelson-Creston :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes | % |
| | Liberal | Frank Putnam | 2489 | 49.2% |
| | Non-Partisan Independent Group | Fred W. Lister | 1302 | 25.7% |
| | Co-operative Commonwealth Fed. | Walley | 1161 | 22.9% |
| | United Front (Workers and Farmers) | Mountford | 108 | 2.1% |
| Total valid votes | Total valid votes | Total valid votes | 5060 | 100.00% |
| Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | Total rejected ballots | 102 | 2.0% |
| Turnout | Turnout | Turnout | 5162 | 74.0% |