Eric LaBrant won the 2015 race for the Port of Vancouver commissioner. He has been a critic of the Vancouver Energy Project.
Christina Belasco / OPB
Eric LaBrant has won the race for the Port of Vancouver commissioner, beating candidate Lisa Ross.
The race has received attention in part because of a proposed oil terminal at the port, which Ross supports and LaBrant opposes. As of Wednesday night, LaBrant led Ross by some 5,000 votes.
“It speaks to where the voters of Vancouver stand on the oil terminal pretty clearly,” LaBrant said about his victory. “This gives us a really clear picture that the people of Vancouver are more opposed than not to the oil terminal.”
Ross declined an interview request, but conceded the race Wednesday night in a posting on Facebook.
"Today's returns are complete. Sadly, we did not prevail," she wrote. "Thank you to everyone with the strength to stand with me and for the port. You will never now how much it meant to me."
LaBrant officially joins the port commission in January. He said he’ll work to cancel the Port of Vancouver’s lease with companies Tesoro-Savage, the backers of the proposed oil terminal.