Among the biggest takeaways from Ithaca Mayor Laura Lewis’ State of the City address was that she would not seek re-election in 2023.
Mayor Lewis won convincingly in November to finish out the remainder of the term vacated by former Mayor Svante Myrick.
However, she has faced an array of challenges in city government since assuming the ‘interim’ role when Myrick left. Those issues continued to bubble after her election, leaving Lewis in a tenuous position entering 2023.
“For the past five years, it has been my privilege and continues to be my greatest honor to serve the city I love as council member and now as Mayor,” Lewis said in her address on Wednesday. “I look forward to the many challenges and opportunities we will face together throughout 2023. However, I am announcing tonight that I will not be seeking reelection to the position of mayor.”
She offered no context for the decision to not seek re-election, and instead focused on the challenges the city faces this year.
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