Connecticut Governor, Dannel Malloy announced that he will not be seeking a third term as Governor of Connecticut.

According to NYTimes, On Thursday April 13, 2017 Malloy scheduled an unexpected news conference for 2 p.m. at the State Capitol to announce he will not run for a third term as Governor. His wife, Cathy, and oldest son, Dannel, appeared behind him.

Malloy said that his decision had nothing to do with low public approval ratings and that he and his family have been in politics for years and had decided they were “ready for another stage” in their lives.

“I’ve run for governor three times,” said Malloy,

Malloy is a Democrat who won two of those races after 14 years as mayor of Stamford.

“I just think that’s enough for me personally and for Cathy. We’ve put in our time, and I’ve devoted six full years to trying to turn this state around.”

Malloy is  known nationally for seeking stronger gun laws after the school shooting in Newtown and for welcoming a Syrian refugee family rebuffed by Mike Pence when he was governor of Indiana.

Last year, Malloy received the John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award for supporting resettlement of Syrian refugees after the Paris attacks. He personally welcomed a couple and their 5-year-old son, who had fled Syria in 2011 to Connecticut and planned to resettle in Indiana. The family was turned away when Vice President Pence ordered state agencies to halt resettlement activities.

After the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in 2012, Malloy signed sweeping restrictions on weapons and ammunition magazines similar to those used by the man who fatally shot 20 children and six educators at the school.

“Throughout our work, we’ve tried to play the long game for Connecticut, not doing what is politically expedient, but rather what we believe is in the best interests of the people we serve today, and for generations still to come,” he said.

Governor Malloy has impacted the children and educators of Connecticut in other ways as well.

Naugatuck High School English teacher, Mrs. Cheryl Campbell said, “Governor Malloy has put people in charge for the department of education that are not educators and some discussions that had made have not been helpful to public education in the state, It was their decision to institute the SAT as the standard test for juniors, which I don’t think is fair”

Campbell also expressed her opinion about how she feels about Malloy not running a third term. She said “ I am pleased with that decision, I think  it’s time for a new thinking for the state of Connecticut”