Manitoba Premier Gary Doer announces his intention to step down from office as his wife, Ginny Devine, looks on Aug. 27 in Winnipeg. (CBC)   

The race is on to become the next leader of Manitoba's NDP and assume the position of premier.

Gary Doer, the provincial NDP leader since 1988 and the premier of Manitoba since 1999, surprised many political observers by announcing Aug. 27 that he is stepping down, ending his reign as the longest-serving of Canada's current premiers.

The following day, he was introduced in Ottawa by Prime Minister Stephen Harper as Canada's next ambassador to the United States.

The 61-year-old Winnipegger has not given the exact date of his resignation, saying only that it will likely be around the same time as the party's leadership convention, set for Oct. 16-17 in Winnipeg.

The new leader will take over a party that is as popular as it has ever been. That's a drastic contrast to the NDP's situation when Doer took the reins in 1988.

At that time, the party was on the verge of collapse.

An internal poll before the provincial election that year showed it had only six per cent of popular support.

Since then, Doer has led the party from a smattering of just 12 seats to 32 in 1999 when the NDP took over from the Progressive Conservatives as the government in Manitoba.

The party has increased its seat count in every election since then, currently sitting at 36. In 2007, Doer became the first NDP premier in Manitoba to lead three successive majority governments.

He was rated as Canada's most popular premier in polls taken in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006, scoring a 77-per-cent rating in March 2006. His approval rating was 81 per cent in March 2008, making him the second most popular Canadian premier, after Danny Williams of Newfoundland and Labrador.

The next provincial election is set for October 2011.