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Swanson captured 21 per cent of the vote, a strong showing for an independent candidate, which observers on the right and the left of the city’s political establishment pointed to as the story of the election.

And Bremner, after winning with 27 per cent of the vote, told Postmedia: “We were able to break through because we actually offered a really bold solution … I don’t think anybody’s ever run on a message like mine before.”

Indeed, former six-term NPA Coun. Gordon Price wrote Monday on his blog Price Tags that Bremner and Swanson’s main byelection campaign promises “not long ago would have been unthinkable policies in any serious party platform.”

Though disappointed she didn’t win the seat, Swanson was glad to see her social justice campaign captured the public’s support, and she believed proposals like the mansion tax “set the agenda” for the byelection.

There was some overlap between Swanson’s platform and that of OneCity candidate Judy Graves — as there was also likely overlap in the voter pool, with some progressives torn over which of the two local anti-poverty icons to support. And if even half of the votes cast for Graves had gone to Swanson, it would have been enough to topple the NPA’s Bremner. Graves, Vancouver’s former advocate for the homeless, also proposed a similar “luxury surtax” on Vancouver’s most valuable homes.

But Green candidate Pete Fry, who finished third between Swanson and Graves, criticized them both for focusing on housing measures outside the civic government’s power. Before the byelection, Fry said that while he was sympathetic to the intention of a mansion tax, it couldn’t be done without action from senior governments. Fry wanted, he said, to focus on things “right here and right now in our city with things we can actually do,” including preserving purpose-built rental housing and fixing the definition of affordable housing to local incomes, not market rates.