“This has been the job of a lifetime, but it is not a job for a lifetime,” Emanuel, a two-term mayor who was first elected in 2011, said during a news conference. “You hire us to get things done — and pass the torch when we’ve done our best to do what you hired us to do.”

The news stunned residents of Chicago, where mayors have sometimes held office for decades and where Emanuel had been amassing campaign money at a rate that made it feel as though another race was already underway.

The announcement also upended the political landscape: No clear front-runner has emerged among a dozen candidates who have already indicated they plan to run in the election, set for February. The race had largely been shaping up as a referendum on Emanuel’s record.

Emanuel, who was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff before returning to Chicago to run for mayor, was a challenging figure in this city from the start. In his first term, his cutting personality and centrist policies earned him the nickname “Mayor 1 Percent” among his critics.

In recent years, the death of Laquan McDonald, a 17-year-old, and a long delay in the release of a police video showing an officer shooting him 16 times, prompted calls for Emanuel to resign.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

Monica Davey © 2018 The New York Times