Congratulations, Mayor O'Brien!

It's the end of a long roller coaster of a municipal campaign. But, boy, it was worth it to take it right to the end.

Congratulations, Larry.

You educate quickly and you improve meteorically. Your leadership and bias for action will serve well at city hall and, while there will be frustrations from time to time with the pace of your progress, your skills at persuading will result in consensus around the chambers more often than not.

It's been an honour and pleasure to be involved with the many gifted and determined members of the Larry O'Brien campaign team.

And they said it couldn't be done......
(Now I understand how you won that plowing competition. Failure is not an option with you.)

Some Coverage...

Larry king of the capital - Ottawa Sun

O'Brien's win put a fairy-tale ending to a political Cinderella story. When the founder and former CEO of Calian Technologies entered the mayor's race in early August, both Chiarelli and Munter wrote him off, saying he lacked concrete plans to deliver his promises.

Within the first few weeks, his campaign faltered, with several key campaign workers sent packing. But the man who many political watchers laughed off became a menacing juggernaut in the final weeks before yesterday's election.

The hi-tech magnate came within striking distance of seizing the mayor's chair, with numerous polls putting the race at a dead heat between O'Brien and Munter.

Surprising election result - Ottawa Citizen

Heading into the race, Mr. O'Brien didn't even have name recognition. In August, when he announced he was running, hardly anyone outside of business circles knew who he was, and there were some serious stumbles in the first few weeks of his run.

The founder and board chairman of Calian Technology had been active in charity fundraising, but he was probably best-known for a suggestion he made in 1999. Mr. O'Brien said Canada should abolish the Canadian dollar in favour of U.S. currency and integrate the Canadian economy more with that of the United States.

His opponents tried to make hay out of this when he announced he was running, but it did not stick.

Then, early in the campaign, key members of his team quit. And he responded to some media questions with answers that showed he had little understanding of city government. He didn't know that all city workers were unionized, for example, and didn't know that the city administered welfare.

Correspondingly, the first polls with his name on the ballot showed him with four-per-cent support. At the time, several political observers and campaign opponents wrote him off.

Later, Mr. O'Brien said, "We stubbed our toe in the beginning. I have to admit that."

But then, two things happened to turn the tide.

First, former mayoral candidate Terry Kilrea dropped out of the race, leaving Mr. O'Brien as the only strongly right-of-centre candidate on the ballot. Second, he got his campaign team issues sorted out when several of Mr. Kilrea's former communications people and strategists offered their services.

Mr. O'Brien brought them on board, and they are part of the reason for his success.

With these people guiding him, his transformation was palpable. In a few days, he went from an awkward, tentative speaker with not very well thought-out policies, to a smooth populist with firmer ideas.

Childhood dream falls short this time - Ottawa Citizen

"A vote for Alex Munter is a vote for a tax-and-spend social agenda that the people of Ottawa simply cannot afford," Mr. O'Brien repeated during the campaign. Yesterday, even as voting went on, Mr. O'Brien could be heard on radio hammering at the point.

Work right to the end and ALWAYS campaign like you're a vote behind.