District of Columbia Attorney General Karl Racine finishes speaking about filing a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump, on June 12, 2017. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine is running for reelection and will not enter the mayoral contest in 2018.

“What’s most important to me is to continue to serve as attorney general,” he said Friday on The Kojo Nnamdi Show. “I’m looking forward to continue, to build upon the work we’ve already done.”

Racine has been buoyed as a potential challenger to Muriel Bowser in the 2018 mayoral race. In the spring, Racine himself said he was considering a run. Ultimately, though, he opted against it.

He said he communicated those plans to Bowser, characterizing her response as “gracious.”

But he didn’t go so far as to endorse her reelection campaign. Instead, he said that, as someone running a campaign, he was the one looking for the endorsement of the mayor and councilmembers, including Ward 7’s Vincent Gray, the former mayor also considering another go at the office.

Racine said that “thinking about leaving [the AG’s office] prior to finishing the job was something that was not appealing. I need another term to build the office in a way that makes the city proud.”

During his inaugural term as elected AG, he launched the Office of Consumer Protection, which has tackled cases against faulty house flippers, slumlords, Washington Sports Club, and more, and filed D.C. Superior Court’s first notario fraud case.

While Racine raised his profile in a highly publicized lawsuit filed this June with Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh against President Donald Trump for “flagrantly” violating the anti-corruption clauses in the Constitution, his name recognition is still low. Nearly three-quarters of District residents have no opinion of him, according to a Washington Post poll taken later that same month.

Racine said one benefit of the AG’s office is the ability to “act out the values of the District of Columbia” by participating in a slew of multi-state lawsuits against the current presidential administration regarding issues like education, immigration, and more.

In 2014, Racine beat out four competitors in the first ever election for the position, netting about 37 percent of the vote. News broke this summer that the D.C. Office of Campaign Finance is conducting an audit of his campaign for taking excess contributions of more than $3,500.

“My campaign and I made a mistake,” he said on The Kojo Show, adding that the errant funds had been returned. But he said that shouldn’t affect the crusade to reform campaign finance, for which he says there is “consensus” on the council.

Both Bowser and her protege, Ward 4 councilmember Brandon Todd, were also both fined this year for taking campaign contributions over the legal limit.

“There are problems in the District of Columbia with perception of pay to play,” Racine said. “We need to establish rules that would reduce that appearance.” There are several campaign finance bills currently before the council, including one Racine drafted that would ban companies for two years from bidding on contracts that are associated with elected officials who they’ve supported financially.

With Racine out, Bowser’s path to reelection looks even smoother. In addition, NBC 4’s Harry Jaffe reported earlier this week that Gray is “leaning against” challenging her. The Democratic primary is scheduled for next June.