Rahm Emanuel, Chicago mayor and former right-hand man to Barack Obama, will not seek re-election, he said on Tuesday.
In a surprise announcement, Emanuel said that he would step aside rather than pursue a third term.
“I’ve decided not to seek re-election,” Emanuel said at apress conference at the city hall, according to the Chicago Tribune. “This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime.”
Emanuel has held the top job in Chicago for eight years and had been expected to run in next year’s election, until Tuesday’s briefing.
His tenure has been marked by controversies, including the police shooting of Laquan McDonald, which sparked a federal investigation. The police officer who killed McDonald goes on trial this week. But the city has been unable to halt persistent gang and gun violence, with 70 shootings and 16 murders in a single week this summer.
Emanuel made the announcement with his wife by his side and was visibly emotional as he revealed his decision, according to news reports.
A host of challengers had already announced their candidacies for the mayoral election, scheduled for February 2019. They include the former Chicago police superintendent Garry McCarthy, who was fired by Emanuel, and policy consultant Amara Enyia, who is running as an outsider candidate.
Emanuel was Obama’s chief of staff before running for mayor. Obama hailed him on Tuesday for expanding pre-kindergarten and debt-free community college. “With record job growth and record employment over his terms in office, Chicago is better and stronger for his leadership, and I was a better president for his wise counsel at a particularly perilous time for our country,” Obama said. “I’ve been blessed to call Rahm my friend. Whatever he chooses to do next, I know he’ll continue to make a positive difference.”