Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig to seek Tory nomination in 2019 federal election

Cambridge Mayor Doug Craig says when his term ends next month, he's not retiring.

Instead, he will seek the nomination to be the Conservative candidate for the Cambridge riding in next year's federal election.

"The first thing people said to me when I lost the election was, well, I guess you're going to retire now. No, I'm not retired. I have lots of energy, my health is excellent and I want to continue what I've always done, which is doing things for my community," Craigsaid in an interview withCBCKitchener-Waterloo.

Craig has been mayor since 2000 but lost his mayoral seat to former LiberalMPPKathrynMcGarryin the Oct. 22 municipal election.

Craig said he made the decision to seek the nomination this past weekend.

"I've been thinking about it for a few weeks, to be honest with you. I've been asked by a number of people and I considered it," he said.

Craig said as he wraps his work as mayor, he will focus on winning the nomination.

"There's some very good contenders out there and I'm going to have to go up against them and prove to be the better candidate," he said.

Liberal MP Bryan May was elected to the federal seat in Cambridge in 2014.He has confirmed he will seek re-election in 2019.