Bill Daley, a democratic candidate has decided to back out on the race for governor of Illinois. Daley is a lawyer and former banker. He has previously served as White House Chief of Staff from 2011 to 2012 and also U.S. Secretary of Commerce under Bill Clinton from 1997 to 2000. Daley did not exit quietly and in fact took the opportunity to amplify the Republican case that Governor Pat Quinn is not electable in 2014.

Daley announced on June 10th via Youtube that he would be running for governor and on July 2nd, he was endorsed by New York Mayor, Michael Bloomberg. His exit comes as a surprise to everyone, citing his reasons for leaving because of the personal hardships that go along with running a campaign for elective office. He is a native of Chicago and his brother Richard Daley, is also a former mayor of Chicago.

Daley’s exit does not mean the end for the democrats and will likely have some quality candidates still to impress voters before the election. Quinn is looking to get reelected, but it does not seem that either side wants to have him around for another term. According to The Chicago Tribune, this decision will help Democrats get a measure of unity, without having to worry about significant primary contests for governor.

There is still a four-way primary to be played out in March and the Republican governor hopefuls continue to risk their own ability to be elected as they try to appeal to traditionally conservative primary voters. The Quinn campaign responded Monday night by saying it respected Daley’s decision. He did make sure Quinn knew that he felt he was not a qualified candidate to return to office with statements including “There’s no doubt in my mind that Pat Quinn will not be the next governor of Illinois. This governor is not that strong that somebody should fear running against him.”

Gov. Quinn on Bill Daley's dropout: I'm focused on my day job: http://t.co/kkwDH0lS0y

— NBC Chicago (@nbcchicago) September 18, 2013

In an email to the Washington Post, he said that he was just not ready to have that in his life for the next five to nine years. An adviser for his campaign also said Daley has been wrestling with the decision for some time and was really agonizing about it, states The Washington Post. He knew it was coming and had to end it eventually, knowing that he was not ready for that kind of responsibility.

Image via Youtube