Here is the text of Mayor Martin O'Malley's speech announcing that he will not run for governor:
Good morning, everybody - afternoon, I should say. Thank you all very much for being here. I want to especially thank Attorney General Curran, the only elected official in Maryland to be with me in every single race I've ever made, and others who've been able to be here. I want to thank you all for coming.
Two and a half short years ago, the people of Baltimore moved beyond the divisions of race and class and place, and we began to believe in each other once again. We voted for change and reform, and we came together and dedicated ourselves to the most fundamental issue of social justice: public safety.
Together with Council President Dixon's leadership in the City Council, we found hope, we overcame our fears, we recovered from our early stumbles, and soon felt the momentum that only comes from achieving real, nation-leading results.
No longer the most violent and addicted city in America, Baltimore now leads the nation in the rate of reduction of violent crime, and Baltimore leads the nation in the rate of reduction of drug-related emergency-room admissions. The average sales price of our homes has jumped from $69,000 to $90,000 in just two years.
After a decade of always losing jobs - 11 straight years of job loss - we've come off with two years in a row of positive job growth. Our first-graders are scoring above the national average in reading and math for the first time in 30 years. And the highest scoring fifth-grade math class in the entire state of Maryland: none other than the 100 percent public school, 100 percent proud African-American kids of our own Mount Royal Elementary School. And Baltimore's CitiStat Program has become a welcomed beacon of progress for those committed to unleashing the boundless potential in all of America's cities.
And against that backdrop, ladies and gentlemen, came a vacuum of leadership in the Democratic Party, the state Democratic Party, this year's race for governor, and the most difficult political decision of my life. And it was difficult for a number of reasons.
It was difficult for me because it is counter to my nature to back down from a tough fight - especially when so much is at stake. It was difficult because my party is adrift. It was difficult because the pursuit of justice has in recent years too often taken a back seat to the pursuit of accumulation of power. It was difficult because so much of our future progress as a people, as a people, depends on the relationship of our city and state.
Crime reduction, drug treatment, mass transit, roads, schools, jobs, homeland defense - so much depends on Maryland being well-governed and effectively governed, and so much depends on Maryland's next governor believing in Baltimore. And that's why this has been so difficult, and that's why it's taken me so long.
How our wealthy state with its growing poverty rate solves its billion-dollar budget problems will most definitely impact the future of our city and region. Passing the problem on to local government or the poor cannot be an option. Whether we continue to divert welfare savings from long overdue investments in our state's work force and child-development needs will most definitely affect this city, this region and this state our children inherit.
Our city's need for growth and our state's desire for smart growth should be one and the same agenda, but sadly, too often they are not. Whether the state reinvests in the mass transit and roads needs of this end of the state will definitely impact the economic future of our city and region.
And all of us, all of us, as thinking, caring citizens of this state and this country have a responsibility to speak out and to demand more principled leadership on these critical issues.
Over the last two years, when people have approached me on the street and have complimented me or encouraged me for the job that we're doing, I often tell them that I'm just the front man for a much bigger organization and much larger movement. But the reason that so many have looked to me to fill the vacuum of leadership in this governor's race is also the very reason that I can't run.
Being mayor of Baltimore is an important part of what the people of this city and their government are doing together. It's about leadership, it's about progress, it's about belief in ourselves, and it's about achieving results. Lasting change and true reform require time, patience, perseverance and leadership.
My good friend Paul Levin, who knew me like a book, told me before his death last week, "Your problem, Martin, is you're drawn to the tough fights, to the toughest fights. But now, serving Baltimore is the tougher of the two fights you weigh."
