Ed Birch has withdrawn his name as a candidate for the Board of Education.
The Kendall Park resident, and freelance writer/photographer, cited personal reasons for his decision to end his bid.
Mr. Birch, who has run for the board several times, said that he would not be able to cover the schools or the football team for the South Brunswick Post had he remained a candidate and possibly won a seat on the panel.
"I enjoy what I am doing and don’t want to give it up," he said.
He filed his paperwork with Middlesex County by the deadline with incumbents Pat Del Piano, Arthur Robinson and Deven Patel.
Challengers Melissa Katz and Anilkumar Patel also had their petitions in on time and will be on November’s ballot.
There are three seats up in this election cycle.
Mr. Birch has worked as a freelance writer/photographer for the Post during the last three years primarily covering the school district and the South Brunswick High School Football Team.
This year, he will be introducing a column called "The Chalkboard" that highlights happenings in each of the district’s elementary and middle schools.
Post Managing Editor Charles W. Kim said that in order to be fair to the other candidates in the race, Mr. Birch could no longer write for those areas if he remained in the race.
"It wouldn’t be fair for him to have that exposure while the other candidates do not," he said.
Had Mr. Birch continued in the race, he would have been given assignments in another community, Mr. Kim said.
Although board member Azra Baig also writes for the paper, she does not cover the schools and did not run in a contested race when she was elected and, therefore, did not have an unfair advantage, he said.
"Ed has done a great job, especially with our football coverage," Mr. Kim said. "I’m glad the Post won’t lose his work."
Mr. Birch’s "Chalkboard" column will debut in September.

