Harvey Su was elected to Coquitlam City Council on October 17, 2026. The City of Coquitlam's official count gives him 9,968 votes, sixth of the 20 council candidates, and the City's Chief Election Officer declared him elected on October 21, 2026. Matthew Sebastiani, fifth, had 13,480 votes, and Rosalinda Thorleifson, seventh, 9,836. The City's results print no elector organization for any candidate, and VoteMate lists him as an independent. The Tri-Cities Dispatch reported that the newcomers to council were Sebastiani, Su, Thorleifson and Benjamin Perry, and Freshet News reported that the four replaced Craig Hodge, Trish Mandewo, Brent Asmundson and Dennis Marsden.
Freshet News reported on April 15, 2026 that he announced his candidacy that day with a "people-first vision" of neighbourhoods, the local economy and inclusiveness, that he had lived in Coquitlam since 2007, and that in the 2022 election he won 7,238 votes, 1,464 short of the last council seat. The Dispatch reported in September 2026 that he had run in 2022 and that his campaign emphasized local business and his background in science and business. By his own account, on his campaign site and in the biography he gave VoteMate, he holds a Master of Science from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, worked as a lab manager after his studies and has run a business for more than 20 years; voche.me has not checked these with the universities.
In September 2022 CBC News, Global News and Daily Hive each reported on the West Coast Express Expansion Association and named him as its founder. CBC quoted him at a rally at the Coquitlam Central station on September 10, 2022: "The West Coast Express started its operation in November 1995. So 27 years has passed, not much has changed." Daily Hive reported that he wanted TransLink to extend the morning and evening service by one or two hours and add weekend and holiday trains. The association's own site says he founded it in May 2022.
By his own account, in the Freshet News profile and on his campaign site, he has been president of the Golden Maple Multicultural Society and of the Westwood Plateau Community Association and a director of the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society, has organized Lunar New Year galas, block parties and a fashion show fundraiser for Freshet News, and in 2023 recommended that the City add Google Translate to its website and accept the Triangle Mastercard for property tax payments, which he says the City adopted. voche.me has not checked these with those bodies or against the City's records. His campaign site lists endorsements that include Patricia Gartland, the former superintendent of School District 43, and Brent Atkinson, a former New Westminster school trustee.
In his answers to the Tri-Cities Dispatch, printed on October 13, 2026, he said Coquitlam needs more housing and a better mix, from apartments and townhomes to co-ops and non-market housing, with transportation, schools, parks and child care to support it. He said he had spent years asking for more West Coast Express service, including a pilot of midday, weekend and holiday trains between Port Coquitlam and Waterfront. He called the 2026 property tax increase of 3.37 per cent reasonable, said the City should find efficiencies before asking taxpayers for more, and said he accepts campaign contributions from people who work in the development industry within BC's financing rules. He said he would not give blanket approval to surveillance cameras without clear safeguards, and that he supports expanding Car 67, which pairs police with mental health workers.
In Freshet News's candidate profile of September 30, 2026 he named infrastructure that keeps pace with growth as his top issue, said he would like to work with First Nations, the Province, UBC and Fraser Health to revitalize Riverview as a centre for mental health treatment, research and education, and said he would like a Coquitlam night market and a performing arts theatre of 500 to 600 seats. Freshet News and the Dispatch reported that the new council is sworn in on November 9, 2026.
