They say the 17th time is always the easiest!
If my math is correct, this will be Lois Jackson's 17th municipal election, although it will be the first time in her more than 40-year political career that she goes into a campaign knowing the outcome beyond a shadow of a doubt.
The fact no one has seen fit to take on the five-term mayor says a lot of things, including that she is a political powerhouse, one who has turned back challenges from a variety of big names over the last 15 years.
It also, obviously, suggests that people are satisfied with the direction Jackson is taking Delta and, I presume, that potential opponents didn't see an issue or issues that would rally enough support from voters to wrest control of municipal hall from the current administration.
The absence of challengers could also be due to the fact Jackson announced recently that the upcoming term will be her sixth and final one. Rather than take on a popular incumbent and endure the fate of previous foes, I suspect several people with designs on the mayor's chair have opted to look four years down the road.
There are several members of the current edition of Delta council, as well as handful of people outside of municipal hall at the moment, that would have at least a passing interest in the municipality's top job, particularly if it becomes vacant in 2018.
Jackson's grip on the mayor's gavel, which will reach 19 years by the time the next term is up, ranks her second on the list of longest-tenured mayors in Delta's 135-year history. It has also meant that several local politicians who, in another era, might well have ascended to the top rung by now, have been forced to wait.
Most mayors last a couple of terms, maybe three. Between the mid-1960s and when Jackson was first elected in 1999, Delta had six mayors, who served for an average of about six years. None were around for more than nine years.
That means over a two-decade period Delta would typically have three different mayors. In other words, there's plenty of pent up demand, so as the next term draws to a close there will undoubtedly be a number of potential candidates testing the waters to see if this will finally be their time.
Their chances in 2018 look a lot more promising than they would have been this time around. No one was going to beat Jackson next month, but potential challengers can take some comfort in the fact that someone else is going to be sitting in the big chair soon enough.
