Ontario finance minister not running for Liberal leadership: reports

After publically saying he was still mulling the idea of running for Ontario Liberal leadership, Finance Minister Dwight Duncan has decided not to run, reports the Toronto Star.

The paper reports that Duncan’s decision not to run for leadership following Premier Dalton McGuinty’s surprise departure will allow former minister Sandra Pupatello, who is also from Windsor, to do so, reports the Star.

Pupatello, a well-liked Liberal MPP from Windsor West who held the post of economic development minister, surprised many when she announced that she would not run for re-election in 2011.

Duncan is expected to make his plans public later Wednesday.

Prior to this news, Duncan was seen as a favourite candidate by the more right-leaning members of the Liberal Party. However, he has previously run, and lost, a Liberal leadership race in 1996.