Lachine borough mayor Maja Vodanovic pulls out of Projet Montréal leadership race, backs Luc Rabouin

Posted January 21, 2025 5:39 pm.
Lachine borough mayor Maja Vodanovic has withdrawn her candidacy for the leadership of Projet Montréal — and will be backing Plateau-Mont-Royal borough mayor Luc Rabouin.
“His in-depth thinking, his experience and his fine knowledge of Montreal make him the person best prepared to take on the challenges that await us,” she wrote in a post on Facebook Tuesday evening.
She says her choice is motivated “by the alignment of ideas” with Rabouin for the future of the city.
This means that the race will now be split in five.
Those in the running are: borough mayor of Côte-des-Neiges–NDG, Gracia Kasoki Katahwa; borough mayor of Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension, Laurence Lavigne Lalonde; the former president of Projet Montréal, Guedwig Bernier, and city councillor, Ericka Alneus.
The leadership race will officially begin on Feb. 3, meaning debates could be held and candidates will be campaigning.
This all comes after Mayor Valérie Plante announced in Oct. that she would not seek re-election.
Election day is set for March 15. On that day, it will be known who will replace Plante in the municipal elections being held on Nov. 2.
Official Opposition party, Ensemble Montréal, still hasn’t launched their leadership race. They had initially given candidates until Dec. 15 to come forward, with plans to launch their race on Jan. 9, but had to postpone to give candidates more time. It’s not yet known when that will be held.