Coun. Terry Whitehead has dropped out of the race to seek the federal Liberal nomination for the riding of Hamilton Mountain.

“I didn’t pursue it,” said Whitehead. “I was asked to run by a group of great supporters.”

The veteran councillor, who was first elected to represent Ward 8 in 2003, said he and his team signed up 1,100 members over a three-day period for the scheduled Feb. 20 nomination meeting at Michelangelo’s Banquet Centre. He praised his team who worked hard to get such a high number of new members, but were now feeling frustrated.

Whitehead acknowledged he was not yet approved by the Liberal party to seek the nomination.