White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel could step down as soon as early October if he decides to enter the Chicago mayoral race, Time magazine reported Wednesday.

Emanuel, who has made his interest in the race known, may abandon his White House post before the election in an effort to avoid creating the appearance of using his government office to his personal advantage, according to sources cited in the report.

Emanuel has already fielded a poll testing his chances and met with one of his potential challengers, Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), to discuss the race. Other Members who might run include Democratic Reps. Luis Gutierrez and Danny Davis.

Jackson, who still hasn’t confirmed a run, said last week that he knows “what it takes” to defeat Emanuel’s aggressive style of campaigning in a potential matchup.