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Sen. Vern White took himself out of the running to once again become Ottawa’s next top cop, but he just might be gunning for a bigger job down the road — as the city’s mayor.

“I’m always thinking about it,” White admitted in an interview from Finland on Friday where he’s visiting his wife’s family.

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He declined to get into detail about any political aspirations, but he did drop a few juicy hints and also explained for the first time why he didn’t apply to become police chief, despite having previously voiced real interest in re-assuming a role he believes was the best job he ever had, one he often regrets leaving.

It wouldn’t be the first time White has considered a run for mayor. He gave serious consideration to doing just that before the last election, but decided against it.

“In my case, I felt the timing wasn’t right. I’m not sure the next time I will feel the same way,” he said.

Mayor Jim Watson’s seeming political invincibility has steered more than a few otherwise serious aspirants away from challenging him in the past. But who knows? Public anxiety over a rise in serious crime and growing frustration over everything from lousy roads to delays in the LRT just might make him unusually vulnerable when voters go to the polls in three years.