Flin Flon MLA Clarence Pettersen says he hasn’t decided whether to seek re-election despite a Winnipeg Free Press article stating he will not.
A Feb. 26 Free Press column listed Pettersen as one of 11 NDP MLAs who “will not be seeking re-election” on April 19.
The article alluded to the fact that Pettersen has lost the NDP nomination but did not mention that he is entertaining the idea of running as an independent.
Speaking to The Reminder on Monday, Pettersen said he would likely announce his intention once the writ is dropped. That is expected to occur sometime between March 15 and March 22.
“Either I’m going to support somebody or maybe I’ll run,” he said.
“I’m still deciding.”
Pettersen said he wasn’t concerned by the Free Press article and had not asked the newspaper for a retraction.
A rookie MLA elected in 2011, he lost the NDP nomination to Tom Lindsey of Flin Flon in late 2015.
If he decides to run, Pettersen will have until March 29 to file his nomination papers with Elections Manitoba.
