Adriane Carr, the two-term Vancouver city councillor, has decided against a run for mayor but she will seek to retain her seat at the council table.
Asked why she decided against a mayoral run, when polls showed public opinion turning in her favour, said people told her they “really, really” needed her voice in the council chambers.
“I had literally hundreds and hundreds of people tell me this, ‘Adriane, you’d make a fantastic mayor,'” she told Global News.
“‘If you decide to go there, I’ll be with you right there supporting you. But I’m really afraid you’re going to lose.'”
At the time that she started considering a run for mayor, the Vancouver Greens’ sole sitting councillor said Vision Vancouver hadn’t even confirmed it would run someone yet.
Adding to that, the field for the mayor’s chair became more and more crowded.
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“In assessing the chances, I had a look at what the competition would be,” Carr said.
“It’s a first-past-the-post run when you’re in for mayor, the field just got increasingly crowded.”
Carr said she approached Vision and all the other parties on the centre-left and ultimately, she did not obtain their support.
“Basically, in a crowded field, it’s just a repeat of the byelection in October where there were four, five candidates on the centre-left getting two-thirds of the vote,” she said.
“But the NPA, Hector Bremner won with 27 per cent, and I was not interested in repeating that October byelection result.”
Carr’s decision came as the Vancouver and District Labour Council (VDLC) issued a list on Monday that would help the left-leaning parties avoid splitting the vote.
That list would see the VDLC endorse three Green candidates each for council, park board and school board.
“I have a lot of hope that we’re going to end up electing that slate of nine in this upcoming October election,” Carr said.
Vancouver voters go to the polls on Oct. 20.
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