Doug McCallum abandons recount bid in Surrey mayoral election

Doug McCallum is throwing in the towel in his bid for re-election in Surrey.

McCallum’s Safe Surrey Coalition announced Friday that “upon further review from our legal advisers” it had “decided to no longer seek a judicial recount” in the race for Surrey mayor.

McCallum finished 973 votes behind Surrey Connect’s Brenda Locke in Saturday’s municipal election.

The Safe Surrey Coalition had announced Monday that McCallum was “not conceding at this point in time” and that it was exploring the possibility of a recount, given the narrow margin of victory.

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Monday’s announcement followed something of a concession see-saw on election night itself.

McCallum took the stage in front of supporters around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, appearing to give a brief concession speech.

But towards the end of the night, when Locke’s lead narrowed to about 500 votes with one polling station yet to report, his campaign manager announced he was not conceding after all.

When the last votes came in and Locke’s lead nearly doubled, his team made a second announcement saying the Safe Surrey Coalition had elected two councillors, and would be “back four years later to fight the battle on.”

McCallum faces a criminal trial at the end of the month on a charge of public mischief, following claims he made that an opponent of the Surrey police transition had run over his foot with their vehicle.