Debbie Amaroso learns to never say never

Debbie Amaroso is a fighter, not a quitter.

But the 2014 municipal election seemed to knock the wind completely from her sails.

"I’m fairly confident in saying it will be the last you hear of me politically in this city,” Amaroso told one news outlet after losing the mayoralty to Christian Provenzano by almost 2,000 votes.

Today, there's word we might not have heard the last of Mayor Deb.

The Ontario Liberal Party has been quietly conducting a robocall poll to test Amaroso's chances as Liberal candidate in the upcoming byelection to replace Sault MPP David Orazietti.

Amaroso confirms she's been approached – not by the local Liberal association but by the party leadership in Toronto – about seeking the Sault Ste. Marie nomination.

She's giving it some serious thought.

"I've been approached and I haven't made a decision yet," she tells SooToday.

She says she'll review the poll results as part of her decision.

And she'll also weigh the effects on her personal life, including the time she likes to spend with her four grandkids.

"The last couple of years, I really engaged with my children's expanding family. With me, it's always family first. It's a difficult decision to not have the flexibility that I have had in the past year."

Since her 2014 defeat, Amaroso has been working as a licensed wedding officiant and building a consulting practice, DA Superior Edge Consulting, specializing in things like team-building, human resources and other skills acquired during her time in politics and at the March of Dimes.

Amaroso owns a house in Sault Ste. Marie, but spends most of her time these days in Goulais River.

"Now retired, she loves to golf, travel to see her adult children and spend time at her home on Goulais Bay," says her biography on the All Seasons Weddings website. "Debbie has a tremendous knack for making people feel comfortable and has a good sense of humour."

Amaroso is fully capable of pulling surprising political victory from the jaws of expected defeat.

After she was elected mayor in 2010, SooToday's Carol Martin wrote: "Dark Horse Debbie emerged out of nowhere last night, proving every pollster and pundit wrong, handily beating Jamie Caicco and a couple of noncontenders to become the Sault's first-ever female mayor."

How about that "it will be the last you hear of me politically in this city" remark in 2014?

"I need to learn the 'never say never' philosophy," she tells SooToday.

Local lawyer and Ward 6 councillor Ross Romano has been nominated to represent the Ontario PC Party in the byelection.

Romano's Ward 6 counterpart Joe Krmpotich is running for the New Democratic Party.