Businessman Peter Ormesher has withdrawn his bid for the mayoral nomination of the Non-Partisan Association.

A former member of the Non-Partisan Association board, Ormesher told the Straight he decided to stay out of the race because he felt that the party leadership was “just really more focused” on having the nomination contested between Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan and councillor Peter Ladner.

“They saw it as Peter versus Sam,” Ormesher said by phone.

The NPA board has set May 8 as the deadline for mayoral hopefuls to file their respective applications to seek the party’s nomination.

According to NPA president Matthew Taylor, Ormesher would have had no difficulty passing the screening process for nomination contestants.

Ormesher hasn’t yet endorsed either Sullivan and Ladner, but said that he’d like to see a debate between the two NPA heavyweights.