At first, I thought I'd seen it all when former Surrey mayor Doug McCallum emerged out of his political grave to seek his old job.

The former TransLink supremo lost the mayor's chair to Dianne Watts in 2005. Now, he's back in the game supporting a ward system.

Then there was Coun. Barinder Rasode launching her mayoral campaign with the hashtag #onetoughmother.

The next bit of amusement came with Surrey Leader's Kevin Diakiw reporting that another political throwback, Judy Higginbotham, is considering entering the mayor's race.

This came shortly after Newton resident John Edwards announced his entry into the race.

Higginbotham was first elected as a councillor in Surrey in 1983, making her that city's equivalent of George Puil. She bowed out of municipal politics in 2008 when she decided to run as a federal Liberal candidate. 

She failed to get back on council in 2011 as an independent.

But the weirdest story in this election is the candidacy of Beau Simpson for city council on McCallum's Safe Surrey Coalition slate.

Simpson was editor of the Now community paper in Surrey before announcing his intention to seek public office.

He's still listed as editor on the paper's website.

That prompted a lengthy blog post from Diakiw, who works for the rival paper.

In a diplomatic tone, Diakiw noted that reporters at the Now are "consummate professionals". And he emphasized that Simpson told staff that he was taking a leave of absence to pursue his political career, albeit suddenly.

Simpson wants to be treated like any other candidate, Diakiw added, before tossing in this zinger: "If he’s unsuccessful in his bid to become councillor, ostensibly he would be back in the editor’s chair. Pity the reporter whose pointed coverage costs him his golden parachute."

Also pity any politicians who are running against McCallum for mayor.

Still, the Surrey political situation isn't as wild as during the 1970s when one mayor, Ed McKitka, went to jail on corruption charges. After emerging from his cell, McKitka was elected to city council.

Another Surrey mayor of that era, Bill Vander Zalm, went on to fame and fortune in provincial politics before slaying the harmonized sales tax.

Mind you, the Zalm never had to compete against one tough mother, let alone the editor of one of the community papers. If he had, perhaps his political career never would have gotten off the ground.