The field of progressive candidates challenging Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim next month has narrowed to one, with William Azaroff’s withdrawal from the race.
The community housing CEO says progressive voters need to unite behind a single candidate for mayor to defeat Sim and his ABC Vancouver party, and he’s wishing the best of luck to the Vancouver Greens’ Pete Fry, a councillor since 2018.
Azaroff says his decision, announced at a news conference at City Hall on Tuesday, fulfils a promise he and the OneCity party made at the start of his campaign that there would be one progressive on the ballot for mayor.
Stephanie Allen of COPE had quit the mayoral race last week, but while Azaroff had praised Allen for her courage, he didn’t immediately follow suit, prompting calls for him to follow through on the pledge.
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Vancouver mayoral candidate drops out, urges progressive unity
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Sim also faces a challenge from his former chief of staff, Kareem Allam of the Vancouver Liberals, as well as former councillor Colleen Hardwick of TEAM for a Livable Vancouver.
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The Vancouver Greens thanked Azaroff for his campaign, while calling Fry “the clear alternative to Ken Sim” in the Oct. 17 election.
“William ran a serious campaign and raised real issues that matter to this city: housing, small business, affordability,” Fry says in a statement.
“I want to thank him and everyone who worked on his campaign for the effort and ideas they brought to this race.”
Allam says in a statement that while he has a different political background, he’ll be carrying many of Azaroff’s ideas forward into the Vancouver Liberal campaign.
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TEAM also thanked Azaroff for his contributions to the political debate.