Traffic safety activist Andres Salomon announced Thursday morning that in light of new candidates who have announced their campaigns, he was bowing out of the mayoral race. He would rather support former mayor Mike McGinn or Cary Moon, he said, than to split up the votes. 

"I wanted a mayor who would make the city a better place. I asked a number of people to run against Murray. I begged people," he said. "I felt I didn’t have a choice. I didn’t have any real desire to become a career politician, but I believed that I could do better than Murray."

Salomon—a Ravenna-based Ecuador native and software developer—criticized Murray for scrapping a city bike-share program, closing off sidewalks to pedestrians during construction, and the lack of "missing middle" housing. Salomon raised $6,000 toward his campaign before he dropped out.

His statement went on to praise McGinn for three paragraphs for his advice and support during the campaign, as well as McGinn's attendance—back when he was mayor—at a memorial walk Salomon organized for victims of traffic violence. But Salomon said over email he's not yet ready to endorse anyone and wants to learn more about Moon's policies. He also said nobody asked him to drop out and that it was his own decision. 

Salomon's full statement can be found here.

On February 1st, I publicly announced that I was running for Mayor of Seattle. The fact that no one else was challenging Mayor Ed Murray and the prospect of another four years of city mismanagement was enough to motivate me to run. Over the past two weeks, the race has been completely transformed. Two exciting candidates have joined the race this week, all while Murray faces shocking allegations from three separate people. Rather than split the vote with others who share my values, I feel that it’s now time for me to bow out of the race. ... I look forward to a better mayor in 2018.

Updated April 20, 2017, at 5:24pm. This post contains new comments from Salomon.