Elections BC recently published the financial reports for candidates in the 2024 provincial election, and BC Conservative MLA Amelia Boultbee outspent her opponents on the way to victory. 

Boultbee spent $71,221.38 and won the election with 11,615 votes, or 41.37 per cent of the total 28,077 cast. That roughly equates to $6.13 spent for every vote she received. 

The next closest candidate, BC NDP Tina Lee, spent less than half what Boultbee did at $34,953.45. She received 11,298 votes, or 40.24 for a ratio of about $3.09 per vote. 

The majority of Boultbee's spending, $34,848.75, was spent on advertising. It was spent on advertisements on local radio and print media, and a third was spent on new signs with local businesses. 

One repeated non-local business was ElectRight Inc., which received $9,555.00 for commercial canvassing. They were also paid for survey and data services. 

Lee's spending was $11,378.91 on advertising, of which $5,241 was spent on signage with Vancouver company Hemlock Display. 

The best spending-to-vote ratio went to Bradley Bartsch with the B.C. Green Party, who spent about $1.58 per vote he received. He spent $2,422.42 and received 1,472 votes. 

Anna Paddon, who ran as an Independent, spent $873.10 and received 144 votes, for a ratio of $6.06 per vote. 

Roger Harrington, Independent, spent $2,116.20 and received 827 votes, for a ratio of $2.56 per vote.

Accounting for Tracy St. Claire's figures is more complicated due to her initially running as a candidate for BC United, before pivoting to run unaffiliated after Kevin Falcon's deal with the B.C. Conservatives.

St. Claire received 2,721 votes in the election and spent $32,843.52 as a B.C. United candidate and $18,996.85 while unaffiliated. Individually, that gives a return of $12.07 per vote and $6.98 per vote respectively, and a combined ratio of $19.05 per vote.