Vernon city councillor announces bid to run for mayor

Vernon city councillor Kari Gares will run for mayor in the next municipal election.

Putting the rumour to bed, Gares told iNFONews.ca she would be running for mayor of Vernon in the next election, slated for October 2026.

While the election is nearly two years away, the councillor said she knew the rumour was out there so she may as well confirm it was true.

“I’ve got a different perspective on things,” she said when asked why she wanted to be mayor. “I kind of see the functions of the city and… I just have a different leadership style.”

She originally won a seat at the council table in 2018 and is now in her second term.

Gares said she will have just turned 50 when the October 2026 election takes place.

“I’m still quite young and I still have a lot of energy behind me,” she said.

“I’m hoping that a different leadership style will… rally the troops, meaning the council members, and bring them together as a team so we can work collectively… to solve the bigger issues,” she said.

The councillor said she’s following in the footsteps of her grandfather who sat on council for three terms.

In 2022, Gares received 4,485 votes coming in second place to councillor Kelly Fehr with 4,538, and getting more voters than both Mayor Victor Cumming and mayoral candidate Scott Anderson.