After months of speculation, New Democrat Peter Julian says he is seriously considering entering the race to become the party's next B.C. leader.

The British Columbia native has been floated as a frontrunner for the position since Adrian Dix's resignation in September, just four months after a shocking defeat to the BC Liberals.

"It's not an easy decision and so what I tell people is I am going to make the decision when the time is right, but I am certainly willing to listen to people," he said.

Thus far, according to Julian, constituents and party members have provided passionate pleas on both sides of the debate over whether he should jump to provincial politics. While some supporters believe he would best serve the party by remaining in federal politics, others have said that a strong provincial caucus could help Thomas Mulcair and the federal NDP win more seats in 2015.

With the province gaining six new seats for the next election, the stakes will be higher than the last time around.

"Some are very strongly advocating that I run provincially, but others are very equally strongly adamant that we have a job to do federally in beating Stephen Harper," Julian said. "It is a very exciting time to be a part of Tom Mulcair's team."

Although he is wedded to the work his party is doing in Ottawa, Julian said he can't ignore the "deterioration" of his home province under the Liberal government. The province, he said, has the highest rate of child poverty and student debt and homelessness in the country.

"I see the impact on my constituents, so obviously that is something that I have to consider as well when we see how B.C. has declined under the BC Liberals," he said.

A former blue collar worker involved in local factory work, the Burnaby-New Westminster MP was first elected to Parliament in 2004. He co-founded the Council of Canadians, was a former executive director of the Western Institute for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, and co-founded the Save St. Mary's Hospital Community Coalition. He also knows sign language, and with the help of his wife can conduct short press conferences in Mandarin.

While a move to provincial politics would mean less time on the road and more at home, Julian says his wife favours him staying in the federal job. She, like some of his colleagues in Ottawa, want him to "finish the job" and remove Stephen Harper from the PMO.

The odds of Julian turning to provincial politics may have been improved after two other presumed favourites, NDP house leader Nathan Cullen and NDP MLA John Horgan, decided not vie for the leadership. Mike Farnworth, MLA for Port Coquitlam, is reportedly mulling over the decision.

But don't expect an announcement from Julian soon. The lack of a clarity on when nominations are due or when exactly a leadership convention will be held are among the reasons Julian said he is still in the early days of mulling over the decision.

"Until those kinds of decisions are taken, it's very hard to evaluate really what the process is going to be and what that will mean," he said.

The leadership contest is expected to be held next September, several months after a proposed May convention.

Annie Bergeron-Oliver reports for iPolitics, where this article first appeared.