With only two candidates, they didn’t stand a chance, but last night was still a little disappointing for the Yukon Green Party.
About a dozen party faithful showed up at Philippe LeBlond’s house for the campaign-wrap party Tuesday night.
It’s the house with the dome sculpture built out of bike rims in the front yard.
Everyone crowded into the kitchen and stood around a laptop to watch the election results come in.
The mood in the room wasn’t charged with excitement, but it was far from somber.
They expected to lose, but it still stung.
“I had hoped to do much better than I did,” said Kristina Calhoun, the leader of the Yukon Green Party and candidate in Riverdale North.
She pulled just 35 votes.
“I didn’t get to as many doors as I should have,” she said.
Reflecting on the campaign, Calhoun said debates and forums took up too much of her time.
“If people don’t get the chance to meet you and understand where you’re coming from, then all they see is a little clip here and there - it’s just not enough information for people,” she said. “If I find myself running again, I will remember to get to the doors.”
Calhoun wouldn’t say if she would put her hat into the ring next time around.
“A lot can happen in five years,” she said.
But Mike Ivens, who ran as the Green Party candidate in the riding of Porter Creek North, was a little more sure.
“I think I’ll do it again,” he said.
Ivens had a much better showing than Calhoun, getting 69 votes.
Still, he was disappointed in the results.
“I had bigger expectations,” he said. “I got a better sense at the door. It’s a bit disappointing that it didn’t translate into more votes.”
While he was able to get to more doors than his colleague, Ivens’ goal is to hit more doors next time around.
The Green Party only ran two candidates in this election. That was the minimum needed to maintain their party status.
The party came together in February, which didn’t give them a lot of time to present themselves to the public, said Calhoun.
She also saw some of their support erode after the recent federal election, where the longtime Liberal incumbent Larry Bagnell was defeated.
The other political parties capitalized on the fear Greens could be the spoiler, said Calhoun.
“If what happened federally hadn’t happened, and if this election hadn’t gotten so negative, I think we would have been in a much better place,” she said. “Their fear messaging was stronger than our non-fear messaging.”
Now that it’s over, Calhoun said everyone will probably take a month off politics.
With five years until the next election, they have plenty of time to prepare.
Contact Josh Kerr at joshk@yukon-news.com