With only 10 days left to make a decision, Blayne Lastman says he is "seriously considering" putting his name on the ballot, with the hope of becoming Toronto's mayor.
Lastman, who is known for being the face of the Bad Boy furniture store, is the son of Mel Lastman, the one time mayor of North York, who later became the mayor of the newly amalgamated city of Toronto on January 1, 1998.
When asked by NEWSTALK1010 what his intentions were, Blayne responded "the only thing I can tell you is that I'm seriously considering."
Blayne was put in charge of Bad Boy in 1991. The elder Lastman had opened the furniture, appliances and electronics store in 1955, but relinquished control when he entered politics in 1972.
NEWSTALK1010 political contributor Jim Warren got word of Blayne's intentions to run after a number of business and civic leaders encouraged him to do so. However, he told Warren he wasn't about to 'pull the trigger' just yet.
"It's 2018 - it's been an interesting year in politics," Warren told the Night Side, Tuesday.
"He's likely to run. He's looking to put his name in the ring," he added. "I think his biggest challenge is, it's about 100 days until it's election day. It's going to be very, very difficult at the 11th hour to try and run a campaign to upseat an existing mayor who has the seat."
"Whether it will be a referendum on how well John Tory's done or not, it will be interesting to see if he can do that."
Meantime, political commentator Scott Reid thinks it will be 'mission impossible' for Lastman.
"The power of the Lastman name should not be underestimated," he told NEWSTALK1010. "Mel Lastman was a towering political figure in the GTA - not for a llittle while, but for decades."
"But you have to make your own bone in politics, and you don't do that by entering a race at the last minute with no prior political experience. I think this is an extraordinarly long-shot play."
Candidates running for mayor need approximately $2-million in order to run a successful campaign.
The deadline to get a candidate's name on the ballot for mayor is July 27 at 2 p.m.