Azaroff leaves Vancouver mayoral race, making Pete Fry lone progressive

William Azaroff has withdrawn from next month’s Vancouver mayoral race, leaving Vancouver Green candidate Pete Fry as the sole progressive contender.

Azaroff, a community housing CEO, said progressive voters need to rally behind one mayoral candidate to defeat Mayor Ken Sim and his ABC Vancouver party. Announcing his decision at City Hall on Tuesday, he said it fulfilled a pledge he and OneCity made at the outset of his campaign that there would be one progressive candidate on the mayoral ballot.

COPE candidate Stephanie Allen left the race last week. Azaroff had praised Allen’s courage but did not immediately withdraw, prompting calls for him to follow through on the commitment.

The Vancouver Greens thanked Azaroff for his campaign and called Fry, a city councillor since 2018, the clear alternative to Sim in the Oct. 17 election. Fry said Azaroff had run a serious campaign and raised important issues for the city, including housing, small business and affordability, and thanked him and his campaign team for their effort and ideas.

Sim also faces Kareem Allam of the Vancouver Liberals, his former chief of staff, and former councillor Colleen Hardwick of TEAM for a Livable Vancouver. Allam said that, despite a different political background, the Vancouver Liberal campaign would carry forward many of Azaroff’s ideas. TEAM also thanked Azaroff for his contribution to the political debate.