Rep. Keith Ellison will not run in Minnesota’s special election for Senate to replace Sen. Al Franken in 2018, the six-term Democratic lawmaker signaled Wednesday.

Minnesota Lt. Gov. Tina Smith has been pegged to replace Franken through January 2019. Smith, a Democrat, said she plans to run in the November 2018 special election.

“Tina Smith is the right person at the right time and has my full support both now and when she runs in the 2018 special election,” Ellison said in a statement Wednesday.

Ellison, who became deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee in February, could have mounted a serious challenge to Smith.

Watch: 4 More Special Elections On the Way, So Far