Seamus O'Regan officially seeking Liberal nod in St. John's South-Mount Pearl

Seamus O'Regan formally announced Monday morning he is seeking the Liberal nomination for the federal riding of St. John's South-Mount Pearl.

O'Regan told CBC News that making the transition into politics was something he had been thinking about for a long time, and his belief that Justin Trudeau will be the next Prime Minister pushed his decision.

"I'm very proud of him [Justin Trudeau]. I think that the way he's handled himself, particularly in the past couple of years, he's demonstrated the ability that he can run this country and at some point you just go, 'Am I going to stand on the side, or am I going to take the leap,' and I decided to take the leap," he said.

O'Regan is originally from St. John's, but he was also raised in Happy Valley-Goose Bay.

He hosted CTV's Canada AM for 10 years. He was also senior policy advisor to former Newfoundland and Labrador premier Brian Tobin.

O'Regan said his years of experience in politics working for Tobin and Ed Roberts, prior to his career in journalism, give him a good background to go into federal politics.

The riding is currently held by NDP MP Ryan Cleary, who also has a background in journalism.

O'Regan said it will be up to voters to decide between the two former journalists.

"The only thing that I can say is I work hard, I've got a good policy background, I've got an open mind and I've learned to ask good questions and seek out the right answers, and really I can offer nothing other than that. Ryan's a good man and I appreciate what his mother said about me … which was, that it was a compliment that I was going to run against him," said O'Regan.

He added making the career change from journalism to politics will be a tough change, opening him up to more negativity. However, he said he'll need to keep himself focused on what he needs to do rather than on negative feedback often found on politics.