RICHMOND, VA. - L. Douglas Wilder, the nation's first elected black governor, said Friday that he would not seek re-election as Richmond's mayor, likely bringing his storied political career to a close.

Wilder, 77, a grandson of slaves, announced his retirement to Richmond city department directors, then issued a news release. He didn't disclose his plans.

"I've done everything you can do," he said in a brief televised comment. He declined requests for interviews.

Wilder was elected mayor in 2004, the first popularly elected mayor of Richmond since the 1940s, and a decade after he left the governor's office.

As mayor, his approval plunged amid poor relations with the City Council and the school board. In October, polling by the Richmond Times-Dispatch showed only 35 percent of those surveyed would support Wilder for re-election.

He had not mobilized a re-election campaign. Rivals, including a popular Democratic state legislator and an estranged longtime Wilder adviser, announced their candidacy weeks ago.

Wilder's troubles peaked last fall when he brazenly ringed City Hall with moving vans and a cordon of police to carry out an unannounced nighttime eviction of the school board during a fight about funding and accountability. A court halted the chaos in a dramatic midnight hearing, then ruled this year that Wilder lacked the authority to force the education offices into rented space in an office building.

Last month, news reports revealed that Wilder had accepted $25,000 in personal car allowances while taxpayers spent $1.2 million to pay for his security detail, drivers and the city car in which he rides.

Since leaving the governor's office, Wilder retained some influence in the political world. He is an adviser to Democrat Barack Obama, and has been highly critical of former President Clinton.

"A time comes, and a time goes," Wilder said in February. "The president has had his time."