Another Four Years, and a City That Did Not Quite Unite Behind Him

There is a particular arithmetic to municipal politics that rarely makes national headlines but shapes the daily lives of everyone within a city's boundaries—the potholes, the parks, the decisions about where a community centre will be built and who will pay for it. In Nanaimo, that arithmetic has produced a familiar result: Leonard Krog will remain mayor, but the margin of his victory suggests a city that is not entirely settled in its judgment of him.

Krog won a third term as mayor with 10,368 votes, or 41.1 percent, according to preliminary results. Political newcomer Sarah Lovegrove finished second with 8,461 votes, or 33.5 percent, followed by Anne Marie Dryden with 6,084 votes and Brunie Brunie with 327 . The margin was narrower than Krog had expected. "I mean, I thought that I would do better," he said, congratulating Lovegrove on a campaign that was "very surprising" .

The result is a study in contrasts. Krog is a veteran of both provincial and municipal politics—a five-time B.C. NDP MLA for Nanaimo who resigned to become mayor in 2018 . He campaigned on his record of restoring what he called good governance after a period of council infighting and scandal, and on his advocacy for involuntary care for the severely addicted and mentally ill, a position he once described as unpopular but which he now says has become the prevailing public mood . In 2022, he won re-election with 66 percent of the vote. This time, that share fell to just over 40 percent .

Lovegrove's strong showing reflects something that is difficult to measure in vote totals: a desire for change that did not quite coalesce behind a single alternative. Dryden's 23.9 percent, running with the REAL Nanaimo slate, drew from a different segment of the electorate . Together, the two challengers captured nearly 58 percent of the vote, a figure that Krog's supporters will note does not translate directly into opposition to the mayor, but which his critics will cite as evidence that the city is not as unified as the outcome suggests.

Krog's third term begins with the same challenges that defined his first two: housing, homelessness, mental health and addictions, and the need for industrial land to broaden the tax base . He has also pledged to complete a community centre in the city's south end and to overhaul facilities at Loudon Park . The official results will be declared by October 21, when the count is finalized .

For now, Nanaimo has chosen continuity over change, but not overwhelmingly. The city has given Krog another four years, and with them, a mandate that is real but modest—a mandate to listen as much as to lead.

AI Image Disclaimer: The images accompanying this article were generated by artificial intelligence and are intended for illustrative purposes only.

Sources: Times Colonist, City of Nanaimo, CHEK News, Nanaimo News Bulletin