Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, who has been floated as a likely candidate to succeed Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, informed the City Council on Wednesday that he will step down Friday, the Associated Press reported.

Hutchison (R-Texas) announced last month that she would not run for re-election in 2012, and a January survey from the Democratic-leaning firm Public Policy Polling showed Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst leading the field of potential GOP candidates with 23 percent. Leppert finished with 3 percent.

Dewhurst is considering a Senate run.

Leppert expects to make an announcement about his next steps “in the next several days,” he told the City Council.

The mayor’s term otherwise would have ended in June. Leppert has previously said he would not run for re-election, and he would have been forced to resign early if he had announced a Senate candidacy while in the mayor’s office.