TORONTO - Could Brampton Liberal MP Ruby Dhalla run for mayor of Toronto?

The former beauty queen and Bollywood actress wasn't returning our call asking if she has entertained the idea, but those who know Dhalla say she has been getting requests to throw her hat in the ring.

While the field for Toronto's next mayor is crowded, the Brampton-Springdale politico would provide a strong, female candidate who would jazz up the race that so far has been filled with white, male front-runners.

"That's certainly a new spin on the election trail, it certainly comes out of left field," a surprised Ryerson University professor Myer Siemiatycki said Friday. "You'd have to think that this is a long-shot prospect."

Siemiatycki said Dhalla would face a few major hurdles, including the fact she doesn't live in Toronto and her "Nannygate" incident last year, when relatives were publicly accused of mistreating foreign domestic workers, a claim Dhalla denied.

To be eligible to run, Dhalla would have to move to Toronto or own or rent property within the city.

But despite her challenges, Siemiatycki said Dhalla's entry would make it a "much more interesting contest."

With the fact municipal elections have notoriously low voter turnouts, it could be anyone's race, Siemiatycki said. The next mayor could win with just 30% of the 30% of the city's population that bothers to vote, he said.

don.peat@sunmedia.ca