After 38 years of public service, 21 of them as Chicago‘s mayor, Richard M. Daley announces he will not seek a seventh term.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley announced Tuesday that he would not seek a seventh term in office.
"The truth is I have been thinking about this for the past several months," Daley said at a City Hall news conference Tuesday afternoon. "In the end this is a personal decision, no more, no less."
The mayor's wife, Maggie, has been battling cancer for years, and many suspect her ailing health led to the mayor's decision. Maggie was in attendance at the announcement. She smiled when he informed the media of his plans not to run.
"I've done my all," Daley, 68, said. "I've done my best. Now, I'm ready with my family to begin the new phase of our lives."
Daley was poised to enter his seventh term as mayor, and the opposition field was not shaping up as a strong one. That could change now that Daley won't stand in their way.
Potential successors include Rahm Emanuel, Ald. Scott Waguspeck, William "Dock" Walls; Jay Stone, son of Alderman Berny Stone; and Frederick White.
14th Ward Alderman Ed Burke was nearly toungue-tied when he heard the news.
"Wow," was all he said.
Daley first won election in 1989, and was the second longest serving mayor in Chicago, eclipsed only by his father.
Mayor Daley's pre-written remarks:
