Associated Press | File, Jan.

Doug Wilder's approval rating has plunged amid poor relations with the city council and the school board.

RICHMOND -- Doug Wilder, who earned a place in history as the nation's first elected black governor, announced Friday that he would not seek re-election as Richmond's mayor, likely bringing his storied political career to a close.

Wilder, 77, announced his plans to retire in a meeting with Richmond city department directors, then issued a news release.

"I'm not seeking re-election. I've done everything you can do," Wilder said in a television interview.

The grandson of slaves was elected governor of Virginia in 1989. He won a term as mayor of majority-black Richmond in 2004 with 80 percent of the vote.

But his approval has plunged amid poor relations with the city council and the school board. His decision to leave office does not come as a surprise because of his sinking popularity, and he had not mobilized a re-election campaign. Several rivals, including a popular Democratic state legislator and an estranged longtime Wilder adviser, announced their candidacies weeks ago.

Wilder's mayoral troubles came to a peak 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.