WASHINGTON — Falls Church City Councilman and former Mayor Nader Baroukh will not run for re-election because he has thyroid cancer.

“A few weeks ago, I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. While my prospects for a cure are excellent, for the next several months I need to focus on my treatment, my recovery, and my family, and I do not feel that I could give a re-election campaign my usual high attention and dedication. For that reason, I will not be seeking re-election to the City Council this November,” he wrote in a letter to the Falls Church News-Press.

Had Baroukh decided to run, it would have been the third term he sought on the council.

He was first elected to the Falls Church City Council in 2008 and served as mayor for two years.