John Revitte has officially withdrawn from November’s East Lansing City Council election as of July 24. Revitte was the first of seven candidates to file and be certified as an official candidate for one of the three openings on council.

Revitte said the decision came as he did not expect to be running against six other “well qualified and/or well-funded candidates.” The former MSU professor who has been involved with East Lansing politics and community concerns for over two decades said with no primary election it seemed his chance to win and serve the community as a councilmember diminished as the field of candidates grew.

“I decided, though reluctantly, therefore that I could better serve our community with my time, talents and energy in other ways,” Revitte said in an email.

Revitte said he will be returning campaign contributions to those who provided him financial support.

With Revitte out, the six remaining candidate are current East Lansing Mayor Nathan Triplett, Mark Meadows, Erik Altmann, Shanna Draheim and Jermaine Ruffin.