Current city councillor Mike O'Reilly launched his Kamloops mayoral campaign outside of City Hall on Thursday, Oct. 2 (Image credit: Michael Reeve/CFJC Today).

By Aaron Schulze

KAMLOOPS VOTES 2026

Kamloops councillor Mike O’Reilly launches mayoral campaign ahead of 2026 election

Oct 2, 2025 | 10:50 AM

KAMLOOPS — A current Kamloops councillor has launched his mayoral campaign ahead of the 2026 municipal election.

Mike O’Reilly made the announcement outside Kamloops City Hall Thursday (Oct. 2) morning.

O’Reilly is in his second term on Kamloops council. He was first elected in 2018 with 9,375 votes and re-elected in 2022 with 10,626 votes. In both instances, he had the third most votes among council candidates.

“I don’t think there is any shock that there is a grave concern with the relentless chaos and the homelessness that has spread throughout our communities, neighbourhoods and riverbanks and that is something we need to take a different approach,” said O’Reilly. “We need to put Kamloops first. It’s not about waiting for the provincial government telling us what they are going to let us do, we need to put Kamloops first and put a Kamloops first solution forward.”

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O’Reilly is the second person to publicly declare his intention to seek the mayoral seat in 2026. Incumbent Mayor Reid Hamer-Jackson announced his intention to seek re-election in July 2024.

O’Reilly already has the endorsement of a pair of former mayors in Terry Lake and Ken Christian. Asked directly about the fear of a vote split, which would potentially allow Hamer-Jackson to retain the mayor’s seat, O’Reilly stated that’s one of the reasons he announced his campaign early.

“I have had conversations with every councillor and everybody knew this was coming and what my intentions where,” explained O’Reilly. “At the end of the day whether you think something is going to happen today they may change their minds. But I think everybody around the city, you don’t have to be in the political know anymore to know what a vote split is, and people know what a vote split is and it’s not good for the city.”

The Kamloops municipal election is scheduled to be held on Oct. 17, 2026.