Portland City Councilor Jill Duson says that she will not seek the Democratic nomination in the race for Maine’s First Congressional District seat.

Duson, who formed an exploratory committee while she was considering a bid, announced her decision in a press release.

“A number of factors lead to this decision not to go forward including family responsibilities and work commitments,” Duson wrote, “but money is the main factor.”

“Most of the folks whom I consulted put the minimum budget needed to be competitive in this primary at half a million dollars or more.”

The seat is being vacated by Democratic Rep. Tom Allen, who is challenging Republican Sen. Susan Collins.

The Democratic primary currently has four announced candidates: Michael Brennan of Portland, Adam Cote of Portland, Mark Lawrence of South Berwick
and Chellie Pingree of North Haven. Ethan Strimling of Portland has formed an exploratory committee.

Dean Scontras of Eliot and Charlie Summers of Scarborough are running in the Republican primary.