Eric Garcetti ends speculation after months of rumors, saying he feels he is meant to be in his current job

Eric Garcetti, the mayor of Los Angeles, has ended months of speculation by announcing that he will not run for the US presidency in 2020.

Garcetti joins a select group, including the lawyer Michael Avenatti, the businessman Tom Steyer, and the former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, who were rumoured to be in the race for the Democratic nomination, only to step back.

“I have decided not to throw my hat into the ring to run for president in 2020,” the mayor told reporters on Tuesday outside Los Angeles city hall. “This was not an easy decision, given the extraordinary times that we live in.”

But explaining his decision to remain in his current job, the 57-year-old added: “I realised that this is what I am meant to do and this is where I want to be.”

The announcement came days after Garcetti helped negotiate an end to a teachers’ strike in Los Angeles public schools.

It may represent good news for Senator Kamala Harris of California, who could have faced competition from Garcetti for the state’s donors and in the California primary, planned for March 2020. Ted Lieu, a congressman from California, endorsed Harris this week.

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Whispers of a Garcetti run intensified last year when he campaigned and raised money for Democratic candidates and state parties around the country in the midterm elections. His $2.5m-plus in party fundraising included $100,000 each for the state parties in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina – which happen to be the first four nominating states in the Democratic primary.

But Garcetti would have faced significant hurdles on the way to the White House. No mayor has ever won a major party’s presidential nomination. At rallies, Republican leaders have increasingly whipped up hostility towards California liberals in general and Hollywood in particular. They would have been likely to accuse Garcetti of presiding over a homelessness crisis in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Times also noted: “Garcetti’s decision also followed disclosure of a search warrant seeking email and other records that involve two of his appointees for an FBI investigation of possible bribery, extortion and money laundering at City Hall. Authorities have not charged anyone with a crime, and no one has accused Garcetti of wrongdoing.”

The Democratic field remains crowded despite Garcetti’s absence. Senators Harris, Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have all entered the race, along with Congressman John Delaney of Maryland, Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, and the tech entrepreneur Andrew Yang. Many more candidates are expected to join.