Mayoral candidate Doug Ford speaks to supporters after losing to fellow candidate John Tory at Ford's election night headquarters in Toronto on Monday, October 27, 2014.Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press
Doug Ford, who said good riddance to political life just a few months ago before he stepped into the mayor's race for his brother, has his sights set on a new target – leader of Ontario's Progressive Conservative Party.
One day after his loss in the race for Toronto mayor, Mr. Ford said he is thinking of keeping his campaign team together to take a shot at the PC leadership.
"I'll be upfront with you. It's on the table," he said. "I would really consider it. I really would."
During his short-lived campaign for mayor, he says he built a "well-oiled machine" that gives him a head start on others in the race, including PC MPP Christine Elliott, the wife of the late Jim Flaherty, a long-time Ford family friend.
"Our campaign is ready to go. Our people are itching to get involved. We are miles ahead of the other candidates."
This is not the first time Mr. Ford has mused publicly about provincial politics, but his colleagues at Queen's Park have given him the cold shoulder at times, especially during the most turbulent times of his brother's term in office.
Mr. Ford has said in the past that the provincial PCs "need a complete enema," but Tuesday, he was more diplomatic, saying it "needs a clean out."
The Ford family, he said, would rejuvenate the party and bring in supporters who have never voted for the PCs before, such as the many residents of Toronto Community Housing who voted for him as mayor.
Beyond his base in Toronto, Mr. Ford said he has support in the surrounding 905 area.
Mr. Ford said he plans to make a decision after he has had time to sit down with his family. He would not say when he plans to make that call. The party will pick a new leader in May.