Vancouver’s crowded 2026 mayoral election became slightly less crowded on Wednesday night.

Brightside Homes CEO William Azaroff was nominated as OneCity’s leadership candidate, defeating Amanda Burrows, following a two-month contest among party members.

In front of a crowd of around 300 people, Azaroff — who defeated Burrows 1,324 votes to 929 — said he would focus on “pro-growth, pro-housing, pro-worker, practical progressivism.”

“This party has it within our grasp to bring the city together around common themes of making the city work again, building things that people need, listening to the people, and ensuring that those who are struggling to get by have a partner at City Hall,” he said.

Azaroff made a number of promises during his campaign, including modernizing the city’s traffic light systems and fast-tracking a renewal of Britannia Community Centre, but said a more detailed platform would come in the months ahead.

OneCity combined its leadership reveal with an annual general meeting, where it announced dozens of people had passed the party’s application process for running for council, park board and school board.

Burrows, executive director of First United Church, congratulated Azaroff on his victory, but declined to say whether she would seek a council nomination with the party.

A ‘People’s Primary’ on the left?

The number of candidates OneCity will run is dependent on the nature of its ongoing discussions with two other progressive parties: COPE and the Green Party.

All three parties have said they wish to avoid vote-splitting in the October 2024 election, but have yet to agree on a common mayoral candidate or the number of candidates each party would run for council, school board and park board.

The Green Party has already nominated councillor Pete Fry as its mayoral candidate, while COPE is considering whether to put forward a candidate, and has characterized this period as “The People’s Primary, a chance for the opposition parties on Council to present and debate their ideas in the public sphere.”

Azaroff said he was committed to continuing negotiations with the Greens and COPE, but stopped short of saying he would end his campaign if another progressive candidate ended up garnering more support prior to the election.

“I think the most important thing is to defeat [ABC Vancouver’s] Ken Sim. And so if we can work together with the other parties, the Greens and the COPE, I think that’s in our interest,” he said.

“At this stage, I’m excited to get out to Vancouver, share ideas, and build momentum for the ideas that we present.”

Other mayoral candidates in the race are Kareem Allam of the Vancouver Liberals and Rebecca Bligh of Vote Vancouver, with Colleen Hardwick seeking TEAM Vancouver’s nomination.