Stephanie Allen, the Coalition of Progressive Electors (COPE) candidate for mayor of Vancouver, has withdrawn from the municipal race.

Allen announced her decision Wednesday, citing the need to unite progressive voters behind a single challenger to incumbent Mayor Ken Sim, adding there is limited time for progressive parties to consolidate support and improve the chances of electing a new mayor.

“It has been the privilege of a lifetime to stand as the mayoral candidate for COPE, a party with the deepest history of fighting the power of the super-rich and showing up for the poor and working-class people in our city,” Allen said in a statement.

“While I am announcing the end of my campaign for mayor, I am also here today to recommit to our movement and to the fight for the people of this city.”

COPE, OneCity and the Vancouver Greens previously agreed to work toward reducing the number of progressive mayoral candidates in an effort to avoid vote-splitting and increase the likelihood of defeating Sim.

Allen called on the remaining candidates to follow her lead.

“I am strongly encouraging the other mayoral candidates in the race to also do the right thing, show integrity, and narrow the mayoral field to the progressive candidate best positioned to evict Ken Sim,” she said.

“We can’t put our egos ahead of doing the right thing for Vancouver.”

COPE co-chair Nate Stanley said Allen’s withdrawal strengthens the party’s efforts to elect progressive candidates across Vancouver’s elected boards.

“This decision will mean that COPE’s candidates across all boards will be working with a progressive mayor instead of Ken Sim,” Stanley said.

“We’re scaling up for our biggest campaign in decades, to boost voter turnout, elect incredible COPE candidates, and win for our values.”

COPE co-chair Sam Smart thanked Allen for her leadership and participation in the party’s People’s Primary process.

“This decision is about more than the success of our party. It’s about serving the people of Vancouver,” Smart said.

“We believe real leadership means listening to the people, and the people are speaking. We urge other progressive candidates who are behind in the race for mayor to listen before it is too late.”

COPE has also launched an online letter-writing campaign that allows residents to contact mayoral candidates, express support for their preferred choice and encourage parties to reach an agreement on a unified progressive candidate.