Colorado’s U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter is expected to drop his bid for governor and will not run for re-election to Congress, Colorado Politics has learned.

The announcement from Perlmutter comes just as his first fundraising numbers are due and only three months after he joined the race in April when he stood at a Natural Grocers store in Golden and declared, “Elections are always about the future, and you and I have the ability to shape that future.”

The campaigns of three Democrats looking to replace the well-known congressman in the 7th Congressional District were thrown into a frenzy on Monday afternoon upon release of the media advisory from Perlmutter’s gubernatorial campaign.

The cryptic advisory said only that, “Ed Perlmutter will hold a press conference on Tuesday morning regarding the gubernatorial race.”

Perlmutter has scheduled a news conference for 10:30 a.m. in Golden on Tuesday, where he is expected to formally announce that he is stepping out of the governor’s race.

Sources close to Perlmutter’s campaign, as well as sources from the campaigns of the three Democrats looking to replace him in Congress, confirmed to Colorado Politics that Perlmutter will announce on Tuesday that he is dropping out of the race.

Those sources also confirmed that Perlmutter will not run for re-election in 2018, which leaves the seat open for a spirited Democratic primary.

State Sen. Andy Kerr of Lakewood, Rep. Brittany Pettersen of Lakewood, and Sen. Dominick Moreno of Commerce City, are all in a battle to take over Perlmutter’s seat.

“Ed has been a friend, a mentor, and a hard-working public servant for the people of Jefferson and Adams counties,” Kerr said in a statement. “I wish him only the best in whatever path he chooses going forward.”

The gubernatorial race is still crowded for Democrats, with U.S. Rep. Jared Polis of Boulder, former state Sen. Mike Johnston of Denver, civics leader Noel Ginsburg, and former state Treasurer Cary Kennedy, all competing to take over the governor’s office.

Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, is term-limited after 2018.