When former Occupy D.C. activist Drew Franklin launched his campaign for an at-large D.C. Council seat, he said that voters would be attracted to his “keep it real at all times” attitude. If only his nominating signatures were just as real!

After a challenge to his petitions, Franklin is now officially off November’s at-large ballot. He fell roughly 500 signatures short of the 3,000 required to get on the ballot to face incumbent David Grosso. Without a spot on the ballot, Franklin says he plans to withdraw his candidacy—barring a last-minute plea from supporters for a write-in campaign.

“I’ve had plenty of time to prepare for this and process it,” Franklin says.

But he insists he’s not finished with Grosso, whose already easy path to re-election is now even clearer with Franklin shuttering his campaign.

“I’ve been giving him a hard time on public schools,” Franklin says. “I’ll continue to do so as long as he’s chair of the education committee.”