Patrick Maher, president of the Orland Fire Protection District Board of Trustees, has decided not to run for re-election.

Citing a desire to “focus on my family and their needs,” Maher announced Friday that he is withdrawing from the upcoming April 5^th election. Maher has served on the board for eight years, and said in a news release that the decision was made after a lot of thought and discussions with his wife Karrie and father David Maher, who serves as the Orland Park Village Clerk.

“My wife and family went through a lot during the Cook County commissioner’s race and I couldn’t ask them to endure another grueling political campaign,” Maher said in the release. “Karrie and I are glad not to rehash the same old issues that campaigns tend to bring. For the kids’ sake and ours, it's time to move on.”

Maher ran for Cook County commissioner against Republican incumbent Elizabeth Gorman in November and lost with 35.82 percent of the votes compared to Gorman’s 58.79 percent.

In leading up to the November race, Maher came under fire for answering in a press questionnaire that he had not ever been convicted of any crimes, but it was found that he had pleaded guilty in 1991 to a battery charge after a fight while in college at Illinois State University.

“I think we all can learn from our past mistakes and hope to make ourselves and our community better,” Maher later wrote in response to a Patch questionnaire.

Maher praised his fellow board members, Chief Bryant Krizik, as well as the district’s firefighters and staff. He also listed several accomplishments made under his time on the board, including returning $4 million in tax money to Orland residents while improving the district’s Insurance Service Office rating to class 2. 

“As a small business owner and a homeowner, I always felt an obligation to provide the best services without imposing a bigger tax burden,” Maher said in the release.

Calls to Maher were not immediately returned Friday.

Patch Reporter Jesse Marx contributed to this report.