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Cambridge City Councilor Paul F. Toner announced on Monday that he will not seek reelection after facing charges related to patronizing a high-end brothel, setting up a potentially fierce battle for an open seat on the nine-member City Council.

Toner, who was first elected in 2021, has faced pressure to resign from Cambridge residents, a majority of his colleagues on the City Council, and other elected officials since being charged in March alongside dozens of other men.

In an email sent to supporters on Monday, Toner wrote that he is shifting to “explore other opportunities” but will “continue to be active in Cambridge civic life as a private citizen.” Toner did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Toner’s decision leaves open a coveted spot on the nine-member City Council, which is elected citywide through a system of ranked-choice voting. Elections in Cambridge are scheduled for this November.

The Monday morning announcement means that Toner will be the only sitting Council member not to run for reelection. Incumbents Mayor E. Denise Simmons, Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern, and councilors Patricia M. “Patty” Nolan ’80, Sumbul Siddiqui, Jivan G. Sobrinho-Wheeler, Ayesha M. Wilson, Burhan Azeem, and Catherine “Cathie” Zusy are all among those vying for a seat in Sullivan Chamber.

A number of challengers have also emerged, including civic blogger Robert Winters and Ayah Al-Zubi ’23, both of whom unsuccessfully ran for the Council in 2023.

Toner came to the City Council after a decades-long career in public education.

After serving as a social studies teacher in the Cambridge Public Schools, Toner was elected in 2001 to lead the city’s teachers union. He was elected to lead the Massachusetts Teachers Association, the state’s largest teacher union, in 2010 after serving as its vice president.

He joined the City Council as a last-place finisher, narrowly displacing an incumbent in a race marked by low turnout. Two years later, Toner more easily secured a spot in City Hall with a fifth-place showing on a campaign that emphasized his ties to the city.

But Toner’s career in local politics ran into controversy during the middle of his second term, when the Cambridge Police Department charged him last March with buying sex from a brothel network that allegedly operated in parts of Cambridge and Watertown.

Toner was one of 34 men ultimately charged in connection to the brothel, which federal prosecutors say was active from at least July 2020 to November 2023, when three of its ringleaders were arrested.

In a statement to The Crimson shortly after he was first named in the case, Toner did not comment on the ongoing legal proceedings but offered a public apology.

“I caused pain for the people I care about most,” he wrote. “For that, I will be forever sorry.”

Though other councilors initially split over their reactions to Toner’s criminal charge, calls for his resignation continued to trickle in.

State Rep. Michael L. “Mike” Connolly, whose district covers East Cambridge, called on Toner to resign “immediately” just days after the councilor was charged, and dozens of residents flocked to the council’s public comment period to do the same.

Pressure continued to mount when State Representative Marjorie C. Decker, who represents much of central Cambridge, wrote in a public statement that Toner’s “ability to serve in his current capacity is compromised beyond reconciliation.” By early April, a majority of the City Council had called for Toner to resign.

But when announcing his decision to step away from the City Council, Toner made no mention of the scandal that has dogged him for months.

“I believe I would be successful in a run for re-election,” he wrote, “and I am deeply grateful to the many friends and supporters who have reached out over the past few months to offer me their continued support and have encouraged me to run for another term.”

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Laurel M. Shugart can be reached at laurel.shugart@thecrimson.com. Follow them on X @laurelmshugart.