Olivia Chow resigns as MP, will launch Toronto mayoral bid

New Democrat MP Olivia Chow has resigned her seat in Parliament before officially starting her mayoral campaign tomorrow, ending months of speculation of whether she would run to replace Rob Ford.

Chows letter of resignation was received by the Speaker's office at9 a.m.Wednesday morning.

Aformer Toronto city councillor, Chow,whorepresentedthe Trinity-Spadina riding for the NDP at the federal level, will formally launch her campaign on Thursday in St. James Town theToronto neighbourhood in which she grew up.

Chow had previously said she was "seriously considering" a run for mayor but was waiting to make a decision.

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Chow's campaign will be headed by veteran Conservative strategist John Laschinger, while her war room will be run by Warren Kinsella, a well-known Liberal.

Chow is considered a front-runner in the already crowded fieldthat includes Ford, one-time provincial Conservative leader and failed mayoral candidate John Tory, city councillor Karen Stintz andformer councillor David Soknacki.

Chow's late husband, former NDP Leader Jack Layton,was elected to Toronto city council in 1982 and had a failed mayoral bid in 1991. Chow's stepson Mike Layton is a sitting councillor.

Chow, theNDP's current Transport critic, has a long history as a Toronto councillor herself. She was the first Asian woman elected to Metropolitan Toronto Council, in 1991,and she was re-elected five times before winning a federal seat in 2006.

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She was chair of the community services committee and vice-chair of the Toronto Transit Commission.

Chow'swebsite boasts that "shewas central in forging nine consecutive balanced budgets as a member of the citys budget committee from 1994 to 2003."