Six months after incumbent Mayor Alan Lowe announced he would not be running again, Victoria finally has its first candidate to succeed him.

Dean Fortin, a two-term city councillor, threw his hat into the ring on Thursday, announcing his intention to run for mayor of the B.C. capital in the November civic election.

Fortin said he's running because council hasn't done enough to deal with homelessness and affordable housing.

"There's been frustration at the slow pace of action .... I think what I truly bring, or what I truly want to bring to the mayor's office is an opportunity to bring people together, to build that consensus, to get things done," he said in Victoria on Thursday.

Fortin said he took his time to decide whether to run in order to gauge support and ensure his backing doesn't come from just one constituency.

"I do have and enjoy broad support from all elements of [the] community, whether it be, as some of it you saw it today, downtown businesses, downtown residents, the Chinese community, Sikh community, East Indian community, Oaklands, James Bay," he told the crowd of about 100 people who attended his announcement.

Among the supporters who attended were former mayor Gretchen Brewin and NDP MLA Rob Fleming. But just one city councillor, Pam Madoff, attended and her endorsement was lukewarm.

"What I've told Dean is, we've got a few months to go, and there will be a lot of issues that will come up between now and then, so I just want to keep my negotiating chit open," said Madoff.

Now that the first candidate is out of the gate, others are expected to step forward.

Former city councillor Pieta Van Dyke and former MLA Sheila Orr have both hinted they may challenge Fortin for the job at city hall.