Sheilagh O’Leary has officially stepped aside from her position as Deputy Mayor of St. John’s.

That’s in preparation for another run at provincial politics.

After 14 years on council, O’Leary’s last public meeting yesterday became emotional at times amid all the goodbyes and thanks, especially for residents.

“To the people of St. John’s, thank you for letting me serve you,” she said. “Every conversation, every phone call, every meeting, every moment truly mattered to me.”

The NDP announced in July that O’Leary had secured the nomination in the district of St. John’s East-Quidi Vidi for the upcoming provincial election.

The writ has yet to be dropped but by law the vote must happen by mid-October, with municipal elections also set for the first week of that month.

O’Leary planned to seek the same nomination in 2019 but was “surprised” when then MHA Lorraine Michael stepped down to allow NDP Leader Allison Coffin to run there.

O’Leary also ran for the NDP in the 2014 Virginia Waters byelection but placed third ironically behind current mayor Danny Breen for the Tories and Liberal winner Cathy Bennett.