Not because she doesn’t think she can win. It’s simply not the best use of her time as she works hard for Baltimore, etc.
Nearly five months after Baltimore erupted in rioting following the death of a 25-year-old black man, Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake announced she is not seeking re-election…
“As I prepared to engage in a vigorous mayoral campaign and participated in planning meetings with my campaign team and volunteers, I came to the realization that every moment that I spend running for mayor would take away from the urgent responsibilities to the City that I love,” Rawlings-Blake said. “Over the next 15 months, my time would be best spent focused on continuing to move the City forward and building upon our progress, without the distraction of campaign politics.”
That sounds plausible. It definitely couldn’t have anything to do with this:
“We also gave those who wished to destroy [the] space to do that.” Rawlings-Blake later claimed this remark was taken out of context. The context is that she shouldn’t be doing this job. Now she’ll have space to deploy (somewhere else that’s better suited to her particular skills, whatever they may be).
Best of luck to the next mayor of Baltimore, who will also be a Democrat.