Mayor Kimberley Driscoll announced she will not be running for U.S. Senate next year, ending weeks of speculation about a possible campaign to challenge Sen. Scott Brown.

The announcement was made Tuesday morning.

“For the past several months I have considered a run for the United States Senate," Driscoll said in a statement. "I have concluded that I cannot enter the race at this time."  

In her statement, Driscoll said she has much work to do in the City, citing questions about the future of the City’s coal based power plant and investments in the waterfront and transportation infrastructure.

Driscoll did not close the door on a future run for higher office.

"My first obligation is to the people of Salem, who have elected me to do the best job I can, here first, before I think about moving on," she said in her statement. "Plain and simple, I do think the seat is winnable, but there is a time and place for everything and I have simply come to the conclusion that for me, at this time, I enjoy my job as Mayor of Salem and I believe my work here will require my full attention.”

Driscoll, a former City Councilor, was elected as the first woman Mayor of Salem in 2005 and was re-elected in 2009.