Photo by michael starghill

Former councilmember Michael A. Brown surprisingly—and somewhat suddenly—dropped out of the race for an At-Large seat on the D.C. Council last night. In a brief statement posted on his website, Brown said that “family matters” motivated his decision to pull himself out of the running a mere three weeks before the April 23 special election.

“It is with extreme disappointment that I am announcing my withdrawal from the At-Large Council race. I have some very important personal and family matters that require my immediate attention,” he said, without giving many more details. Various reports have said that his mother is ailing, and that he spent time during the campaign tending to her.

Brown launched his campaign in January, shortly after having lost a re-election bid in November to Councilmember David Grosso (I-At Large). Though his fundraising lagged behind some of his opponents, Brown recently got the most votes in a straw poll held by the Ward 8 Democrats. His campaign also seemed to be ramping up; yesterday his campaign tweeted out images of yard signs being loaded into an SUV for distribution around the city and young supporters released two videos of them doing the Harlem Shake.

With Brown’s departure, six candidates remain in the race for the At-Large seat once occupied by Council Chairman Phil Mendelson—Interim Councilmember Anita Bonds (D-At Large), Pat Mara, Paul Zukerberg, Elissa Silverman, Perry Redd, and Matthew Frumin. Brown’s departure has seen by some as a boost for Bonds, who will no longer run the risk of dividing the vote in wards 5, 7 and 8. Still, Brown’s name will remain on the ballot, and “Michael Brown” has proven to be a vote-getting name in the past. (In 2010, Shadow Senator Michael D. Brown ran against Mendelson, taking in a surprising number of votes from people who thought he was the other Michael Brown.)

Brown was first elected to the D.C. Council in 2008 as an independent, handily defeating Mara. Before that, he unsuccessfully ran for mayor. During his multiple runs for office he was commended for being an affable and well-meaning candidate and criticized for being sloppy with the details and mechanics of campaigning. During last year’s race against Grosso, Brown’s campaign was the victim of the theft of $114,000; a former campaign worker stands accused of taking the money over the course of a year.