St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis says he will not seek a fourth term in office.

Davis released a statement Tuesday morning saying, "I have asked the St. Tammany Parish Council to withdraw consideration of the proposition that would allow me to run for an additional term as parish president."

A week earlier, Kevin Davis told Eyewitness News he saw no harm simply putting the matter on a ballot, and letting voters decide. After nine years in office, with three years remaining until he's term limited out, Davis said, he simply loves his job and wants to keep doing it. And, he said, he was urged to seek the fourth term by many of his constituents.

Tuesday, his statement said, "I want to thank the many citizens who encouraged me to submit my name for consideration.  I appreciate all of your support."

"I suspect that public opinion has weighed in,” says Eyewitness News Political Analyst Clancy DuBos.  “And it's a wise politician who knows when to give it up and not put friends and supporters to the test or to impose on them further to raise money or mount a campaign that probably couldn't be won.”
Back in October of 2007, Davis won re-election to his third term with 78 percent of the vote.  But Clancy DuBos says, bottom line, voters simply like term limits. "I don't think this was really about Kevin Davis.  I think this is about a much larger issue.  The issue of term limits is bigger than any single politician, even one who is as popular as Kevin Davis."

Davis now has three years to decide his next political move.

He passed last year on running against Steve Scalise for Congress and said Tuesday, "There is much work to be done in St. Tammany Parish in the coming three years and I will devote myself to accomplishing as much as I am able."

A spokesperson for the parish says there's no plan to bring up the fourth term idea again.