Burris withdraws from mayoral race

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Roland Burris has made no announcements about his plans.

Updated: December 18, 2010 6:55AM

Former Sen. Roland Burris took himself out of the race for mayor Friday as obscurely as he entered it — with a brief press release.

From the day a few weeks ago that supporters filed nominating papers, until Friday, Burris made no public appearances and attended none of the public forums that most of the major candidates for mayor attended.

Burris has been replaced in the U.S. Senate by Republican Mark Kirk and has made no announcement about what he intends to do now.

Burris has run for mayor once before. But he has been working mostly as a lobbyist and consultant since finishing a term as Illinois’ attorney general in 1995.

In his very brief press release, Burris said, “I want to thank all of those who backed me for the office of mayor and those who signed the petition, but I will not be offering myself as a candidate for mayor of Chicago.

“In the last 30 years, the people of Chicago have not had many opportunities to elect a new mayor — specifically, for an open seat. This election is very important, because it will determine whether Chicago remains the attractive, competitive, creative, effective, and productive city we all know it to be.

“I wish all of those who are in the race well. As a voter, I look forward to a spirited contest.”

Abdon M. Pallasch