Andrea Horwath says 'never say never' to potential mayoral run in Hamilton

Former Ontario NDP leader Andrea Horwath won't say if she'll join the race to be Hamilton's next mayor.

"I've learned to never say never," she said Wednesday on CBC's Metro Morning. 

"What I'm weighing is the encouragement I'm getting versus the responsibility I have in Hamilton Centre who just elected me a couple weeks ago."

Her comments come two days after Mayor Fred Eisenberger announced he wouldn't run for re-election and endorsed Horwath in a CHML interview on Monday.

The current candidates include former mayor Bob Bratina, former chamber of commerce CEO Keanin Loomis and former mayoral candidate Ejaz Butt.

Horwath is a former city councillor, elected in 1997 before becoming an MPP in 2004. The NDP was the official opposition twice under her leadership, but the party never won an election.

Horwath said right now, she's thinking about the NDP party and her role at Queen's Park.

"You don't want to take your focus away from the job at hand and it's an important one," she said.

"My focus at this point is absolutely helping with the transition to the interim leader ... and of course, we know there's likely a summer sitting coming so I'll be swearing in and doing my job."

Horwath said she's also focused on analyzing how the NDP lost nine seats instead of gaining any.