Nova Scotia NDP MLA Marian Mancini announces she won’t run again

After 16 months on the job, NDP MLA Marian Mancini announced Thursday she won’t be running in the next election.

Mancini, who is MLA for Dartmouth South, said she will stay on until the next election, but after that she won’t run again despite enjoying the work and interactions with constituents.

“I thought I had a pretty good understanding of it,” Mancini said, adding the decision was something she put a lot of thought into.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I thought I had a pretty good understanding of it," Mancini said, adding the decision was something she put a lot of thought into.

“With my legal background I thought I’d really enjoy the legislature, which I do, and the constituency work, which I also do too, but I think I just realized I’m more of a public servant type of person, not so much a politician.”

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Mancini said she sees a big difference between being a public servant and a politician, most notably the “sort of cloud over you” she experienced during her brief tenure in the Nova Scotia Legislature.

“I think it takes a while to really adjust to the sense of being a public figure, if you’re a particularly private person that’s a whole dimension,” she said.

“But the other component is that there’s a sense that … no matter what it is you’re doing, the undercurrent is that you’re always … chasing a vote.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "But the other component is that there's a sense that … no matter what it is you're doing, the undercurrent is that you're always … chasing a vote."

“So it puts your work, sometimes, into a context that maybe you don’t want it to be in.”

Mancini also said that with the job comes “a level if dissatisfaction no matter how much you’re working.” Whether that be community events, meetings or other things happening in the constituency, she said the pressure is constant.

Mancini said the change in party leadership didn’t play a part in her decision.

As for what’s next for Mancini, she said she’s not sure what she’ll do next.

“I’ll give it some thought, I don’t know, maybe I’ll go back to practicing law,” she said.