[dropcap size=big]L[/dropcap]os Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti announced Tuesday that he will not be running for president after all — despite more than a year of his friends, allies, and funders floating the idea that the L.A. mayor would make a viable candidate for the White House in 2020.
A source close to Garcetti confirmed to L.A. Taco this afternoon that the second-term mayor of the second largest city will drop his bid. The mayor confirmed his exit from the race himself via Twitter an hour later, citing his love for the job and his excitement "to finish the work we have begun here in Los Angeles."
I am so excited to finish the work that we have begun here in Los Angeles. So I have decided not to throw my hat into the race for president in 2020. (4/4) EG
— Eric Garcetti (@ericgarcetti) January 30, 2019
Garcetti had been toying with the idea in public since at least 2017, in often awkward strokes. In this exchange with Good Day LA, Garcetti said he was not raising money in the Midwest, but still "going around the country talking to folks." Watch: