Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson won’t seek re-election

Credit: Gregor Robertson on Twitter

Vision Vancouver leader is the latest party official to take a pass on this fall’s civic vote

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson dropped a surprising piece of news on reporters and citizens alike today by saying he wouldn’t be running for re-election in October of this year. 

Robertson, who was first elected mayor in 2008, said the choice was “one of the hardest decisions” of his life and “intensely personal.” He also said he would leave politics and has no plans for when his term ends in late October.

The statement comes after Robertson had confirmed that he would be seeking an unprecedented fourth term. As it stands, he joins Phillip Owen as the only other person to win three terms as mayor in the city’s modern era.

The party Robertson presides over, Vision Vancouver, has absorbed a minor exodus of late, and it’s fair to ask if other members see the writing on the wall.

Councillor Geoff Meggs started the falling dominoes last July when he left Vancouver to serve as Premier John Horgan’s chief of staff. After a byelection to find his replacement resulted in Vision candidate Diego Cardona finishing fifth, fellow councillor Andrea Reimer announced that she wouldn’t be seeking re-election.

With Robinson also fleeing the coop, will remaining Vision councillors Heather Deal, Kerry Jang, Raymond Louie and Tim Stevenson campaign later this year? The party holds a majority on council with six members, outnumbering the four Non-Partisan Association (NPA) councillors and Adrienne Carr, the lone Green Party representative.

Once very active on social media, Vision Vancouver hadn’t tweeted since November before re-tweeting Robertson’s news.