Photo by Andrew J. Cohen

Former Councilmember Sekou Biddle won’t be trying to get his old job back. Biddle, who briefly served as an at-large member of the D.C. Council in 2011, announced in a news release that he won’t be a candidate in the April 23 special election to complete the term vacated by now-Chairman Phil Mendelson.

“Without closing the door on any future opportunity to serve in public office, I am today announcing that I will not be a candidate in the April 23rd special election for the Council of the District of Columbia,” Biddle wrote. In past elections, Biddle has been a favorite of the District’s progressive voting bloc, which nearly carried him to victory in last year’s Democratic primary against Vincent Orange.

But with Patrick Mara, who represents Ward 1 on the State Board of Education, and Elissa Silverman, a budget analyst at the D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute, already collecting signatures, Biddle’s entry would have fractured the progressive vote even further. Thirteen candidates have filed for the election already, including Councilmember Anita Bonds, who was appointed to take Mendelson’s old seat last month by members of the D.C. Democratic State Committee. (Biddle was appointed by the same process in 2011 when he was tapped to take the at-large seat vacated by then-Chairman Kwame Brown.) Former Councilmember Michael A. Brown, who was defeated last November by David Grosso, has also been rumored to be plotting a comeback, and today obtained ballot petitions from the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics.

Candidates for the April 23 election have until January 23 to collect the 3,000 signatures needed for ballot access, giving candidates just three weeks left to scour their bases for supporters.

In his message, Biddle did not rule out a future run for office, but cited his family and occupation—he serves as the United Negro College Fund’s vice president for advocacy—as reasons to sit this one out. He did not say if he is endorsing any of the declared candidates.