U.S. Representative Michael Capuano will not seek the Democratic nomination for governor, reports Boston.com.

Capuano figured to be “one of the party’s most serious contenders” in the race for governor.

According to Boston.com, Paul Trane, Capuano’s senior political adviser, said the U.S. rep. will, instead, seek another Congressional term in 2014—a seat he’s occupied since 1998. Trane told Boston.com that it was a personal decision made between Capuano and his wife, Barbara.

Capuano, 61, who lost his bid for Senate in 2009, had been considered a potential candidate for governor for some time. Boston.com suggests that his recent decision “almost certainly closed the door on any future races for higher office.”

Earlier this month, Attorney General Martha Coakley announced that she would be making a bid at governor. Currently, Boston.com reports, Coakley is the favorite to secure the Democratic nomination—receiving 57 percent of potential votes in a recent poll. If Capuano ran, that figure would have fallen to 41 percent, with Capuano receiving 21 percent, according to a Public Policy Polling survey.

Analysts have claimed that Capuano’s candidacy would have been good for Coakley because it would make the gender-based vote more important, Boston.com reports. Currently, there are four men and one other woman running against Coakley for the Democratic nod.

In 2010, Coakley lost the state Senate race to Scott Brown, who also said he would not run for Governor—opening the door for Charlie Baker.

When Coakley announced she was running for governor, she was already leading early party primary polls, and running strongest against Baker.

Baker struggled in the past to gain the support of women.

In 2010, making his bid for governor, Baker lost the women’s vote by 24 percent to Deval Patrick, according to a MassINC Polling Group post-election poll.

Coakley is expected to receive a significant financial boost thanks to Emily’s List, a Washington-based political group with a mission to elect women to public office, as well as support from other women’s activist groups according to a Boston.com report.

Democrat Juliette Kayyem, a former Boston Globe columnist, is the only other woman in the race. She suggested that she would drop out if Coakley decided to run.

Other Democratic candidates in the race include Donald Berwick and Joseph Avellone. Senator Dan Wolf has suspended his campaign.