Revised - Independent candidate Jonas Smith’s ballot presence resulted in a split Yukon vote in Monday’s election, according to Conservative candidate Barbara Dunlop and supporters who spoke to the Star Monday night at the Edgewater Hotel.

As of this morning, Liberal candidate Brendan Hanley had amassed 6,427 votes, 1,354 ahead of Dunlop, who has 5,073. Two hundred votes remain to be counted in Ottawa.

Smith received 2,627 votes. The combined total of votes for Dunlop and Smith would have surpassed that of Hanley.

Dunlop arrived at the Edgewater Hotel event shortly after 8 p.m. Monday. The crowd gathered to listen to party leader Erin O’Toole give his televised speech, then Dunlop spoke to her supporters.

“I can’t believe how far we came in such a short time from such humble beginnings … on the first day in the campaign office, there were five of us around the table,” she recalled.

“We were starting completely from scratch. I wasn’t well-known politically, and we guessed we had a couple dozen confirmed votes,” Dunlop said.

“It’s hard to describe the expressions on our faces when we heard about the independent challenger, and as we learned that so much of the party campaign infrastructure would have to stay on the sidelines, I asked then and there if we should continue.

“I received four immediate and resounding yeses,” she said. “We knew we were doing the right thing, and we knew we were doing it for the right reasons.”

In six weeks, Dunlop added, “We have already passed 3,000 votes. We offered informed debate, and gave Yukoners a positive choice that respected the dignity of the process.

“For tonight, that achievement is absolutely worth celebrating. And we should. And then, going forward, we need to pull together as Conservatives, to support our territory, support our country … tomorrow we’ll get back to work. Wherever we can, however we can, to make Yukon a better place for each and every Yukoner, because as Conservatives, that is what we do.”

Dunlop was asked afterward if she was disappointed with the outcome.

“No. You know, this was a really exciting campaign. It obviously started very quickly, we hit the ground running, and everybody worked so hard,” she said.

“I’ve just been overwhelmed by the generosity and kindness of Yukoners, and overwhelmed by the hard work of my team.

“We’re excited about the result; we’ll wait to see what the final result is (Tuesday); we’re going to respect the 2,500 outstanding mail-in votes, and see where we end up, and right now, I’m feeling really great.”

As for the vote being fissured between herself and Smith, she conceded it did have an effect.

“I think there was definitely something to the vote being split, and that’s always a consideration and a concern.

“But we ran the campaign we wanted to run. We wanted to give Yukoners a positive choice,” she said.

“We absolutely wanted to give Yukoners a chance to vote for a Conservative. It’s one of the two parties that are going to form a government in Canada. At the time, we did not know which one it would be, and the idea that Yukoners would not have an option to vote for one of those two parties, didn’t make any sense at all.

“So we were excited to get into the campaign, and whatever it took in those early days, that’s what we did.”

Dunlop didn’t commit to running again in the next election, saying she needs some time to think it over first.

“Not tonight. I think we’ll probably have to wait a couple days and have that conversation, and really wait 18 months to see what happens, because there’s no predicting what’s going to happen in politics in 18 months right now.”

Melanie Brais, the assistant campaign manager, office manager and volunteer co-ordinator for Dunlop, told the Star why she decided to support Dunlop when she had endorsed Smith in the past.

“I’m a card-carrying Conservative. I sit on the Conservative executive here as a director. I’ve worked with Barb. And I’ve worked with Jonas,” Brais said.

“So if you had two kids playing hockey in the same division, and they both make the playoffs and they’re both on different teams, who do you cheer for?

“I’m from Alberta, and I have seen time and time again how a split vote can be very destructive, and I don’t feel that a split vote is necessarily the way to go, if you’re a conservative-like-minded person.

“I know that the friendship I’ve had with Jonas for 20 years will still be there,” she added.

“Our politics no longer align, but we will still be friends.”

As for the campaign itself, Brais was pleased with how it was managed.

“I feel like we ran a very clean, non-mud-slinging campaign, and tried to appeal to people with the same type of social responsibility that Barbara feels,” she said.

“The same type of fiscal responsibility that Barbara has within the platform, which is the first time in a lot of years. And I’ve been a conservative for a lot of years, and no platform is ever perfect, but this is the first one that specifically lists things that really matter to the North … it is something we can work with, and bring better days ahead … I whole-heartedly believe that.”

Brais reiterated that a split vote does have an effect on the outcome.

“I feel that a split vote just complicates it. And not just the Jonas-Conservative thing. There’s split votes all over the place. It’s just an interesting dynamic, this election. It’s just very different.”

Brais had predicted the Yukon election would be a close one.

“It’s going to be a nail-biter. I got my nails done just in case. I think it’s going to be really close.”

Angela Drainville ran for the Yukon Party in last April’s territorial election and is a volunteer and supporter of the Dunlop campaign.

“I went and delivered some cards for Barbara and talked about her in the community and helped wherever I could in terms of offering advice, guidance,” Drainville said shortly after CTV formally declared a Liberal minority government.

“She didn’t really need it, though.”

Drainville said she wasn’t surprised by the results.

“I don’t think I’m particularly shocked by what the outcome is, and what the outcome is predicted to be, nationally and locally. I think my feeling is that I’m quite proud of the performance of the party and I’m certainly proud of the performance of our candidate here.

“I think Barb and team ran a really clean, kind and ethical campaign, and those are some of the values I really stand for … and I think that advances us as a country, and it advances us as a riding, and as Canadians.”

Drainville added, “I didn’t think this was going to be necessarily our election to take. I think this was a growth election for us, and I think we’ve managed to do that, so in that sense, I’m quite satisfied by how the party’s presented itself, both on the federal level and here locally.”

Asked to describe the general feeling at campaign headquarters, Drainville said, “I think it’s pride. We have a brand-new candidate. We have a party that is moving into 2021 sort of ethics and viewpoints.

“I think we’ve done a really good job of maintaining that ethical position.”

Drainville called her party’s efforts “a really solid campaign. Good strong policy coming out of the federal campaign, and then again locally.

“Great messaging, strong performance, nice positivity, and really doing everything that could be done to ensure that the campaign didn’t become negative.”

She was also candid when asked for a pre-results prediction on the outcome of the local race.

“Locally, I suspect we might see a Liberal victory. And I think that’s all part of the growth process of the Conservative Party, and I think it’s been a great opportunity for us to learn more about how to connect to Canadians in 2021.”

Drainville also acknowledged the divided right-wing vote factor.

“I think that everyone needs to vote with conscience, and they need to select the candidate that speaks to them most … it would be foolish of me to say I don’t think that’s had an impact, because I think that it has.

“Jonas is an extremely strong candidate, and he ran a very strong campaign as well … so of course it’s had an impact.

“Am I gonna let that determine my attitude about what that looks like for us, and all the positives that came out of it? I’m not, because I think that everyone has the right to place their vote where it best suits them. I hope that that’s always true for Canada.”

Drainville said she wholeheartedly supported Dunlop.

“I think she’s done a great job, and I’m proud of her as a candidate, and so in terms of the situation that resulted in her being in this position, I’m really grateful for having had the opportunity to have her represent the party in this riding.”

Yukon Party Leader Currie Dixon said he attended Monday evening’s event “to see the results of the election, like everyone else, and like I said at the outset of the election, the Yukon Party is the territorial party, and so we haven’t taken a formal position on the election, but I’m friends with Barb, and I want to come here and support her, and wish her well on this big night for her.”

Asked if he had played a role in the Dunlop campaign, Dixon responded, “I haven’t taken any formal role in the campaign for any candidate. I did weigh in a few weeks ago on my thoughts of the candidacy of Brendan Hanley, and how I thought what he was doing was inappropriate, given his position (chief medical health officer), and the fact that he refused to resign his position ….

“It’s been no secret that I’m not a fan of Mr. (Justin) Trudeau either, so I weighed in with my thoughts on that front, but I haven’t played any formal role.”

Dixon’s views on Hanley haven’t changed.

“I still think it’s clear that he used his position to campaign. The fact that you see the word ‘doctor’ splashed all over signs all over town shows that he’s campaigning as the chief medical officer of health, and clearly that campaign began long before the election was called.”

(Hanley took a leave of absence from the job to campaign.)

As for the election itself, “You look at the results now, and it’s clear that this whole election has been a Justin Trudeau vanity project, and the results are very much the same as what they were at the beginning of this campaign,” Dixon said.

“Nothing was achieved. Justin Trudeau wasn’t able to get the majority he so strongly wanted, and the results are largely the same as what they were when the night began.”

All that’s been accomplished, Dixon said, “is the expenditure of over 600 million taxpayers’ dollars, and we got the result that we knew pretty much from the outset was going to be achieved. Trudeau didn’t get what he wanted, but Canadians got a big bill at the end of the day.”

The Liberals aren’t nearly as popular as they thought they were, both in the Yukon and federally, Dixon said.

He doesn’t think Hanley had as much of an advantage over Dunlop as one might think.

“Going into this campaign with the polls where they were, and with the relative celebrity that Dr. Hanley felt he had, I’m sure he hoped for more than what he got,” Dixon said.

“I think that Yukoners were very clear that they’re very split on this election.”