wiser for them." Rae's predecessor as premier, David Peterson who was supporting Michael Ignatieff, criticized Rae's entry into the race due to his record as NDP provincial premier, though insisting that he did not hold a personal grudge against Rae. On May 12, 2006, Trudeau-era Deputy Prime Minister Allan MacEachen backed Rae's leadership bid becoming honorary campaign chair. On June 16, former Ontario Liberal Party leader and provincial treasurer Robert Nixon, who sat as leader of the opposition to Rae's Ontario government for a time, endorsed Rae. He was also endorsed by MPs Irwin Cotler, Ujjal Dosanjh, Lawrence MacAulay, Diane Marleau and Brian Murphy, as well as several Senators. Rival candidate Maurizio Bevilacqua withdrew from the contest on August 14 to endorse Rae, and Carolyn Bennett did the same on September 15, followed by Hedy Fry on September 25 and John Godfrey on October 20. On the night of December 1 at the Convention, Rae spoke freely without notes rather than make a formal speech. Rival candidate Joe Volpe announced his support for Rae after the speeches were concluded. On the morning of December 2, after finishing second on the first ballot, rival candidate Scott Brison, moved to Rae and yet another rival candidate, Ken Dryden, moved to him after the second ballot. However, Rae lost his bid for the leadership in the third round of Convention balloting, placing third behind both Michael Ignatieff and Stéphane Dion, who had leapfrogged into first after receiving the support of Gerard Kennedy. Rae then freed his delegates and did not indicate whom he supported on the final ballot; Dion won the leadership. Despite the loss of the Liberal leadership, Rae had indicated that he would like to run for a federal seat in the House of Commons in the next federal election. On March 7, 2007, Rae announced that he would seek the Liberal nomination in Toronto Centre. On March 26, 2007, he won the party's nomination, defeating Toronto lawyer and human rights advocate Meredith Cartwright with 532 votes to her 267. Several days following his defeat at the leadership convention it was reported that Rae's wife, Arlene Perly Rae was approached by a delegate who did not know who she was, and who told her that she should not vote for Rae because his wife is Jewish. A flyer was also sent electronically to convention delegates, stating that Rae's wife was a