Rob Howard narrowly wins Richmond mayoral race

Richmond residents have elected Rob Howard as the city’s new mayor. The seat was open to a new candidate for the first time in 25 years after longtime mayor Malcolm Brodie announced he would not seek re-election. Howard was a city councillor before his first mayoral campaign: he won a council seat in a 2001 by-election and served two consecutive terms, ending in 2008.

Howard moved to provincial politics and was elected MLA for the Richmond Centre riding in 2009 as a member of the B.C. Liberal Party. He did not run for re-election in 2013; Teresa Wat won the vacant seat. Howard previously said his first priority as mayor would be a value-for-dollar review of city spending, examining how money is used and whether services are worth their cost.

Running under the Richmond Forward banner, Howard strongly opposed supervised injection sites in Richmond as part of a broader safer streets program. The issue became a hot-button topic for voters and candidates. “No more experiments. No more studies. No more injection sites,” he said before the election.

Howard defeated second-place candidate Alexa Loo by 880 votes. Former B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed finished third, 8,565 votes behind Howard. Loo served as a Richmond city councillor for 12 years before running for mayor under the Richmond Strong banner. She told CTV News before the election that residents were ready for change. Loo also opposed a safe injection site and said the city needed more housing.

Loo said council should focus on providing housing, ensuring people receive appropriate support, and keeping public spaces clean and safe. Heed also opposed bringing in safe injection sites, but was among the councillors who co-sponsored a 2024 motion to explore the potential benefits and challenges of such a site near Richmond Hospital.

Brodie announced online in September 2025 that he would not run for mayor in the next election. “We need someone to take over the mantle, move it forward, and take it into the future. So, I just felt that the time was right to take this step,” he said. He also said, “I am very grateful to all and will leave office fully confident that the mayors and city councillors of the future will preserve the legacies built over the years while they enhance the status of Richmond as an important urban centre in the province.”

Brodie was first elected to Richmond city council in 1996 and became mayor in 2001. This report includes files from CTV News Vancouver’s Kraig Krause and The Canadian Press.