Congratulations on being the first to break it Sean -- the first one to even try, from what I've been able to find.

Wow! What an upset!

Any scrutineers leaking the numbers?

Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye Krusty!!!

Congratulations, NPA! You folks are obviously smarter than any of the pundits thought!

Sam shows once again that he can beat all the odds.

One question comes to mind... Any word yet re whether there might be a deal in the offing on a brand-new duplex at 16th and Columbia?

So where does the carpet bagger go now? Back to her old story of looking after her child. Maybe her old man can cook up a seat in the senate for her for here efforts. Cheaper for him than the cost of moving into the city

That's a disappointment. Without question, I'd say that this makes Jim Green the next Mayor of Vancouver.

Sam Sullivan is a nice guy and all but... Well, he doesn't really have any ground to run upon. He's been a part of this Council. He's was, in fact, one of the first to advocate many of the things that are now in place.

Not a blow-out, but a solid Green win. 50% to 35% or so, with the rest spread out. A lot like Owen's wins in 1999 and 1996. Another leftist majority on Council (though, thank God, minus the lunatics).

The only way to push COPE out of City Hall this election would have been for an outsider to come in on the attack.

Frankly, Christy could have done it - coming in and trying to play the role of a female Giuliani. I can see it.

Francis, you old dog! How's life in 10 Downing Street going?

Interested to know what you think a "leftist majority on council (minus the lunatics)" might look like. As COPE and Vision are only running five candidates each, it seems likely to me that any left-wing majority would be made up of the incumbent councillors, and COPE's running five incumbents to Vision's two.

I suspect that we'll see something like seven COPE/Vision Vancouver Councillors and three NPA ones.

I mean, I like Sam Sullivan personally, but there's just no way that he's going to beat Jim Green, in my view. He just doesn't have it. The shattering of the NPA in 2002 was an epochal event - and, of course, now the at-large effect which made COPE demand a ward system for so long is going to work in their favor.

Sullivan's only hope of winning, in my view, was if COPE had run Cadman or someone - and gotten 15% of the vote or so. There's just not the base for the NPA.

Why would you go out and vote for Sullivan?

If you, as I do, oppose the Four Pillars approach - why would you vote for Sullivan? I wouldn't.

Frankly, Sullivan (despite the fact that he seems to have had a more Toryish band of organizers than Clark) doesn't seem all that different from Jim Green. Neither of them offer anything different for the City of Vancouver.

But, that being said, the blame for this defeat rests, in a large measure, with whoever came up with Clark's strategy. They let this become a referendum on whether Christy Clark, the outsider and controversial ex-Education Minister, should be allowed to use the Vancouver Mayor's slot as a stepping stone to the Premier's Chair. They should have done all they could (including the use of paid media) to make the debate about an issue.

"They should have done all they could (including the use of paid media) to make the debate about an issue," says Mr Urquhart.

Ha, ha, ha...! Isn't that just the darnedest thing about an informed/ educated and/or involved electorate? You go out and buy the big media and hire all the best federal, provincial and local spin doctors and yet they still don't fall for your contrived agenda.

"a female Giuliani" eh..how true..another corrupt, morally bankrupt politician. Yup..I'd have to agree with you Francis.

"I suspect that we'll see something like seven COPE/Vision Vancouver Councillors and three NPA ones."

So in other words, you're predicting that the only "lunatic" from the original COPE majority who won't be returning to council is Larry Campbell?

Yeah, seven to three seems like a possibility to me, too. Most of the NPA candidates don't seem to have the kind of name recognition that can help a non-incumbent to get elected.

Of course, we'll also have to see who Vision Vancouver can come up with for its three remaining candidates. I hear Heather Deal from Parks board is one, and possibly also Heather Harrison, who ran for the NDP's Point Grey nomination. Other names I've heard include Friends of Larry co-founder and '96 COPE mayoral candidate Carmela Allevato, perennial candidates Nancy Chiavario and Alan Herbert, and possibly Am Johal, who's heading the Vision candidate selection committee. Vision has been hinting that there will be some really high-profile, exciting candidates - if so, they've done a good job at keeping their names secret.

obscurantist: I doubt Am Johal will be running, as he has plans to leave town, which is a great loss for Vancouver.

Jim Green is in for a tough fight. Vision Vancouver may be different from COPE, but in terms of their support for flaky special interest groups and causes, and bankrupting the city, they're about the same. Proably the COPE lunatics will get council seats, though, because of VV does anything, it will split off some of the right vote, too. I think this Sam Sullivan guy's gonnas take it. Although between him and the COPE councillors, they're all crazier than shithouse rats!

Vision Vancouver is supposed to be announcing its council candidates tomorrow (Monday). And does someone know who won the school board and parks board nominations for COPE?

"Crazier than shithouse rats"... a saying I've never really understood. It almost sounds like a compliment.