Businessman Ben Stewart will represent the Liberals in the newly formed Westside-Kelowna riding in the upcoming May provincial election.

Stewart defeated Rick De Jong in Monday's Liberal riding nomination.

The party did not release the final vote count.

Stewart, 51, the founder of Quail's Gate Estate Winery in the District of Westside, will be looking to hold onto the riding currently held by MLA, Rick Thorpe.

In June, Thorpe announced he would not seek re-election after 13 years as an MLA.

The boundaries of what was Okanagan-Westside were re-drawn earlier this year following a report by the B.C. Electoral Boundaries Commission.

It includes the community of Westside along with a portion of Kelowna.

The new riding follows the Westside Municipality boundaries to the south and stretch north past Killiney Beach.

The Kelowna "finger" would border with Cadder on the south, Glenmore on the east, and follow Trench Place, Clement and High Road to the north.

The area includes slightly more than 17,000 residents.

Stewart says he doesn't think the new boundaries will be a factor in his ability to hold onto the riding.

"I grew up in the Kelowna side and I look at this as being the communities that I know well. I think that once they know there is a representative that they know, they'll be a lot more at ease to trust that person and I think that's a bit of an advantage I had tonight," says Stewart.

"People knew me, they knew how I ran my business and liked what we were doing."

Stewart says once the campaign begins, he believes the economy will be the number one issue.

"We don't want the economic prosperity or the low taxes and things we've had brought to us by the premier and caucus over the last few terms to disappear and we're looking at wanting to make certain we retain that position. We're not interested in going backwards. We're interested in moving B.C. forward."

The provincial election is May 12.

The Liberals are the first party to nominate a candidate in the riding.