Former U.S. Rep. Max Rose said Sunday he won’t run for mayor of New York City after all.

In a statement, Rose said that he has decided not to enter the race to succeed fellow Democrat Bill de Blasio, who is term limited. Rose ran campaign ads last fall charging de Blasio with being anti-police.

Rose added that “across the five boroughs, no one believes that City Hall is on the side of the working class” and said the next mayor “must build a social contract that leaves no one behind.”

Rose, a Democrat and Army combat veteran, defeated incumbent Republican Dan Donovan in 2018 to represent a congressional district that includes all of Staten Island and a slice of Brooklyn. He served one term in Congress but lost to state Assembly member Republican Nicole Malliotakis in November.

He had told supporters in an email last month that he was exploring a run for mayor and registered his mayoral campaign with the city Campaign Finance Board.

The race to succeed de Blasio already includes City Comptroller Scott Stringer, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams, former U.S. Housing Secretary Shaun Donovan and former de Blasio counsel Maya Wiley. Former tech executive and Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang has been meeting with civic leaders in advance of a possible mayoral campaign announcement.

(AP)