Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway announced Friday that she will not run for a third term in office, canceling her reelection bid citing threats to herself, city council members, staff and her family

Rhodes-Conway had initially announced her reelection campaign in July 2026. She was first elected in 2019 and won reelection in 2023 by an 11-point margin. In her statement, she said that she was “confident that voters would judge my record favorably and grant me another term,” but that the “price of serving has become too high.” 

“This was not an easy decision, but it is the right decision for me and my family, our personal safety, mental health and wellbeing,” Rhodes-Conway said. 

Over the summer, Rhodes-Conway and the city faced significant criticism following the killing of 38-year-old Corey Ruiz at the hands of a Madison police officer. A protest encampment on the east side of Madison, near the site of the shooting, was eventually cleared by the city, triggering more controversy. 

This week, the interim independent police monitor who had been investigating the Ruiz shooting was fired in a 14-6 vote by the city’s common council. Local activists, who testified against the firing, protested the council’s vote and shouted “shame” as council members were escorted out of the building by police.

Aeiramique Glass, the independent monitor, had drawn criticism for getting into an altercation with police officers while they worked to clear the protest encampment at the site of the Corey Ruiz shooting. A dispute also emerged within city government over her authority to subpoena materials related to the incident from the police department and the Wisconsin Department of Justice. 

Rhodes-Conway did not directly mention the issue in her statement. 

“Madison has long been home to impassioned and spirited debate. But it is not hyperbole to say local democracy is at risk, not just from MAGA and right-wing extremists in the federal and state governments, but from a toxic political culture that is transcending partisanship and ideology,” Rhodes-Conway said. 

Rhodes-Conway said she wants people to take a “hard look at our local political ecosystem” during the remainder of her term. She said over her time in office she has seen “the balance has shifted from productive discussion to increasingly vitriolic, personal attacks from people who seem not to care about actually understanding and debating an issue.”

“How can any leader govern responsibly when personal attacks and baseless conspiracies carry more weight than facts? How can any mayor be effective when a difference of opinion is cast as unforgivable betrayal that justifies threats of violence?” Rhodes-Conway said. “When I ran for mayor, I expected to make sacrifices – but I did not expect the level of threats to myself, Council members, my staff, and my family. I did not expect our civic discourse to deteriorate so severely. And I did not expect the levels of implicit and explicit sexism to which I have been subjected to from the very beginning of my first campaign.”

Dane County Executive Melissa Agard thanked Rhodes-Conway for her service and said in a statement that she was troubled by the role threats and harassment played in Rhodes-Conway’s decision.

“No one who steps forward to serve their community should have to fear for their safety or the safety of their loved ones. We must do better to ensure that public service remains something people can pursue without intimidation,” Agard said. 

The mayor’s departure creates an open race for the leader of Wisconsin’s capital city. Eight candidates had already announced they would challenge Rhodes-Conway. They include One City Schools founder Kaleem Caire, former Madison Common Council President Syed Abbas, Brian Benford, April Kigeya, Marcus Robert Johnson, Natalia Hacerola and Larry Williams. 

“We need leaders who are more interested in making the government function well than in performing for social media,” Rhodes-Conway said in the statement announcing her departure.  “We need leaders who want to continuously improve, but won’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. We need leaders who are able to listen to and balance a wide range of voices. Above all, we need leaders who put the needs of Madison before their popularity or political futures, and we need to elect leaders who understand the job they are running for.”

Rhodes-Conway said she is proud that during her time in office she has been able to steer the city though the COVID-19 pandemic, dealt with lawmakers who wanted to take “away our funding and powers,” helped build new housing and invest in new infrastructure as well as launch the city’s new bus rapid transit system.