Article content

Political scientists and insiders say it’s too early to know who Vision Vancouver will run for mayor in the fall but they expect a fierce battle with world-class candidates.

It’s unclear which of the party’s councillors may try to replace Mayor Gregor Robertson on the ballot: Raymond Louie said Wednesday that he hopes to keep his council seat but is unsure whether he’ll run for mayor. Andrea Reimer said she will not seek re-election nor the mayorship. Tim Stevenson and Heather Deal did not reply to interview requests, while Kerry Jang is out of town.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Experts predict top-level interest in vying for mayor under Vision banner Back to video

Gordon Price, a political scientist and former director of Simon Fraser University’s City Program, said he doesn’t know who Vision will run but he expects the mayoral race to attract candidates from senior levels of government.

“It would certainly be an opportunity for someone who has a sufficient degree of charisma — an overused word, but I think appropriate here,” he said. “Can you get people’s attention in a highly fragmented world in order to establish an identity for the party that people will park their vote with?”