Kevin Lai was elected to Richmond City Council on October 17, 2026. The City's official count gives him 12,006 votes, eighth of 55 candidates for the eight seats. The City's declaration of election by voting of September 21, 2026 prints Advance Richmond as his elector organization; it elected three councillors (Gary Law, Sheldon Starrett and Lai) and three trustees. Richmond News reported on October 18, 2026 that he said he was sad that not every team member was elected, that his first order of business is to expedite the construction permit process, and that he hopes the new Council will be a bridge between residents and the government.
Richmond News reported on June 2, 2026 that Advance Richmond was among the slates announced for the election, and in August 2026, when the organization added four candidates, it called him the organization's president and quoted him on its four focuses: public safety, accountability and transparency at City Hall, support for families, seniors and small businesses, and education above politics. The organization's pages call him its founder and chair.
By his own account, in the statement he gave the City and on his organization's page, he is a general contractor and business owner with more than ten years of experience, came to Canada in 1993, has lived in Richmond for four years after more than a decade in Vancouver, helped organize opposition to a supervised consumption site and to the Cambie and Sexsmith permanent supportive housing project, and is president of the Richmond Centre Conservative electoral district association. voche.me has not checked these with any other body; news reports of the 2024 and 2025 rallies found do not name him.
During the campaign the organization's posts carried his positions: in August 2026 it said he was calling for accountability and oversight of drug activity at BC Housing supportive housing, and in the same month he and Gary Law discussed senior safety and police follow-up after a senior was attacked twice in Seafair, the post says.
