If Rahm Emanuel decides to run for re-election as mayor of Chicago, he won't have to face the president of the city's teachers' union.
Karen Lewis, who had yet to commit but had been considering the possibility, announced Monday that she would not run for mayor.
"Karen Lewis has decided to not pursue a mayoral bid, yet she charges us to continue fighting for strong neighborhood schools, safe communities, and good jobs for everyone," the Karen Lewis Exploratory Committee said,
WGN-TV reports.
Last week, Lewis was hospitalized and underwent emergency surgery.
NBC Chicago reported she was exhibiting stroke-like symptoms, but doctors said she did not suffer a stroke.
Lewis, 61, had bariatric weight loss surgery in March and has lost more than 100 pounds since then, according to the NBC story. She elected to have the surgery in Mexico because her health insurance would not cover the procedure in the United States.
Last week's surgery, NBC reports, was not related to her weight-loss procedure.
She reportedly will step down from her role as the Chicago Teachers' Union president because of her medical condition,
WBEZ.org reported last week.
Chicago's mayoral election will take place Feb. 24.
Emanuel represented Illinois in the U.S. House from 2003 to 2009 before working as White House chief of staff from January 2009 to October 2010. He left the White House and successfully ran for mayor of Chicago, taking office in May 2011.
"Having Karen in the race was obviously front-page news, it made everyone in the city think about school issues," Chicago Teachers Union Acting President Jesse Sharkey said, the
Chicago Tribune reports.
Sharkey added that the union will maintain its involvement in the mayoral election.
"Our union is going to remain very involved in the fight over what the city looks like. We have to talk about the city the children of Chicago deserve, not just the schools they deserve."
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