Kelowna's Liberal Member of Parliament elect Stephen Fuhr said that he is tired, appreciative and ready to get to work. 

"I'm running on three hours of sleep and five cups of coffee," said Fuhr moments after Elections Canada pronounced him as the winner of the 2025 federal election for the Kelowna riding.

Fuhr is no stranger to close elections, after shocking many in 2015 to be the first Liberal MP elected in the Central Okanagan in more than 40 years. Fuhr then lost his seat in the House of Commons in 2019 to recent incumbent Conservative Tracy Gray, who has represented Kelowna as an MP for the last two terms. 

"I thought it would be won or lost in the margins, and that is exactly what happened," said Fuhr. 

until every single vote cast in Kelowna was counted, with the final results published at 12:15 p.m. on April 29.that more than 55,000 Kelowna residents exercised their right to vote, with 47.8 per cent of ballots cast for Fuhr, and 47.3 per cent cast for Gray.

While narrow, the 235 vote (0.5 per cent) lead that Fuhr holds over Gray is significant enough to not qualify for an automatic judicial recount. 

The New Democratic Party's candidate Trevor McAleese secured 3.8 per cent of the votes while Catriona Wright with the Green Party received 1 per cent. 

Fuhr acknowledged that more than half of Kelowna voters did not tick his name on the ballot and wants all constituents to know that he will do all he can to unite the city and advocate for the needs of residents in Ottawa. 

"I'm in the same position as 2015, about 50 per cent of people did not vote for me then," said Fuhr about the narrow margins. 

"I'm the MP of everybody here. I will do all I can to help all constituents."

He said that after a brief rest, he will be ready to tackle the key issues facing Kelowna, including threats to Canadian sovereignty from US President Donald Trump and the impact of tariffs, without divisive politics. 

"I am hoping that we don't go back to the hyper-partisan pre-election political climate," said Fuhr. He said that now that he has been elected, he will support and advocate for the needs of all residents, regardless of their political beliefs as the "pre-election crisis still looms."

Nationally, the Liberals will hold a minority government after securing 169 of 343 seats in the House of Commons and with Mark Carney as Prime Minister.