Jean Fortier has dropped his bid for mayor, CTV Montreal has confirmed.

According to a Projet Montreal staffer, Fortier, who was running under the Coalition Montreal banner, is throwing his support behind Valerie Plante.

The Projet Montreal aide said Fortier will make an official announcement on Wednesday morning.

Fortier became a candidate for the city’s top job after Coalition Montreal's interim leader Marvin Rotrand asked him to give voters another choice besides Denis Coderre and Valerie Plante.

Rotrand appeared to dispute Projet Montreal's claim, tweeting, 'Don't believe rumours' after the news broke Tuesday afternoon.

Rotrand told CTV Montreal in a text message that there is 'no deal' between Projet Montreal and Fortier, and that Projet Montreal is 'spinning.'

 

Fortier is no stranger to city hall, having served as chair of the executive committee under former mayor Pierre Bourque.

After Bourque lost the election to Gerald Tremblay back in 2001, Fortier left politics to pursue other avenues, including a master’s degree in the management of engineering contracts.

In 2013 Fortier stepped back from a mayoral run for Melanie Joly because he didn’t want to split the vote. During this year's campaign, Fortier had insisted he was not the spoiler in the election.

The election is on Nov. 5.