Facing few if any options to get on the ballot for the June 21 primary, D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-Ward 5) on Monday suspended his campaign for attorney general — but said he remained open to running for office in the future.

The announcement came in the wake of a string of rulings from the D.C. Board of Elections and Court of Appeals declaring that he did not have enough legal experience to qualify for the office, and as brief conversations around possible emergency action in the D.C. Council sputtered amid the realization that time had run out.

Surrounded by supporters at the Big Chair in Anacostia, McDuffie said he wasn’t surprised that fellow candidate Bruce Spiva had decided to challenge his qualifications — but that he was “shocked” that the elections board and courts had sided with Spiva. “Never once did it seriously cross my mind that I wouldn’t be on the ballot in June,” he said.

“I know that it’s the people who deserve to choose who the people’s lawyer should be,” he added. That someone who served as a prosecutor, as a civil rights attorney in the United States Department of Justice, as a public safety adviser to the deputy mayor for public safety and justice, and a council member for a decade wasn’t qualified to serve as attorney general. Let’s let that sink in for a moment. I still don’t believe in it.”

The debate centered around a provision in D.C. law requiring that any candidate for attorney general must have been “actively engaged” as an attorney for five of the last 10 years. McDuffie had argued that his time on the council should count, but the elections board and court disagreed, saying that serving as a lawmakers didn’t necessarily equate with legal work.

In the wake of the weekend’s decision from the Court of Appeals not to reconsider his case, McDuffie’s supporters had floated the possibility that he could run as a write-in candidate, opt to run as an independent for the general election, or launch a new campaign to remain on the council. They also pushed the council to pass emergency legislation as early as today clarifying the qualifications for attorney general so McDuffie could run.

But those efforts — which McDuffie said he supported and had urged colleagues to push — faltered as lawmakers grappled with concerns over timing and political optics. In terms of timing, there was little chance an emergency bill would have gotten McDuffie back on the ballot for the primary; the elections board said Monday it already sent ballots off to be printed.

And on the political optics, some lawmakers said they worried it would seem like they were rushing to help a colleague. (McDuffie countered that in 2016 the council had passed emergency legislation to put Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on the ballot for the Democratic primary.)

“Virtually all the members are sympathetic to Mr. McDuffie. But does that mean they are willing to approve what could be perceived as legislation that is affecting a particular election? There is some hesitation,” said Council Chairman Phil Mendelson on Monday, who was among three current legislators who submitted a legal brief to the court siding with McDuffie. (The court dismissed the brief as being based too heavily on their recollection of what they intended the qualifications to mean, instead of having a written record showing that intent.)

The council could still act in the coming two months to clarify the law. This could give McDuffie an opening to run for attorney general as an independent who would then take on the winner of the Democratic primary. Along with Spiva, the Democratic contenders include Ryan Jones and Brian Schwalb.

In his comments on Monday evening, McDuffie said the events of the last month — and the ultimate outcome that kept him off the ballot — had left him both angry and motivated.

“Despite the sense of disappointment, incredible frustration, and bitterness with the way that things have worked out, I can’t help having this deep and abiding sense of purpose,” he said. “That despite the circumstances that we’re experiencing right now, I want you all to know it’s only deepened in my resolve to serve our city. It’s only deepened my commitment to represent the voice of the voiceless.”