Rep. Keith Ellison has ruled out running to serve the remainder of outgoing Sen. Al Franken’s (D-MN) term in a special election in 2018, a spokesperson confirmed to TPM Wednesday.

“He has ruled it out,” Karthik Ganapathy, a spokesperson for Ellison, wrote in an email to TPM.

In a Facebook post, Ellison congratulated Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith for her appointment to the Senate in an interim capacity and said she had his “full support both now and when she runs in the 2018 special election.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune earlier reported Wednesday, citing an unnamed source close to Ellison, that he would not run in the 2018 special election.

On Wednesday, Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton named Smith to fill Sen. Al Franken’s seat until a special election on Nov. 6, 2018, and Smith will reportedly run in that election to serve the remaining two years of Franken’s original term, until the 2020 election when a senator will be elected to serve a full term.

Franken announced his resignation Thursday after several women accused him of sexual harassment.

Ellison is also the deputy chairman of the Democratic National Committee.

This post has been updated.