Douglas County Board member Jim Cavanaugh will not mount a campaign for Omaha mayor, he announced Wednesday.

Cavanaugh, a Democrat in his second term representing parts of south-central Omaha on the County Board, said his focus will remain on the board’s work of providing pandemic relief money to those in need.

“A mayor’s race would require 100% of my time and focus, and pandemic assistance requires all of my attention,” Cavanaugh said in a video. “I can’t do both.”

He said he had assembled a campaign team that had collected sufficient signatures to get his name on the ballot. Had Cavanaugh decided to run, he would have added a wrinkle to the race that already features a number of Democrats vying to unseat incumbent Republican Mayor Jean Stothert.

Cavanaugh comes from one of Omaha’s legacy political families. He has earned a reputation as a vocal opponent of the county’s $120 million courthouse annex and juvenile detention center project.

The city primary is April 6, and the general election is May 11.

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