The Green Party’s Joe Keithley is pulling out of the Burnaby mayoral race and endorsing Mike Hurley for the job.

"I am stepping aside, as I believe the best way to make positive change in Burnaby is to defeat Derek Corrigan and elect a new mayor,” Keithley said in a statement. “I believe that Mike Hurley is the best candidate to achieve that. I recently met with Mike and we both realized that our goals for Burnaby were really not that far apart.”

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Keithley said he will seek a council seat instead.

Hurley is a recently retired firefighter and former union president who hopes to replace Corrigan, who has been mayor since 2002. Corrigan is a member of the Burnaby Citizens Association party, as are all current councillors.

Hurley is running as an independent and said he will not endorse any council candidates.

The Greens now have three declared council candidates – Keithley, Rick McGowan and Carrie McLaren – and have said they plan to run a full slate of eight.