This job has made me miserable for the last 4 years.I made a lot of people's lives objectively better, but the constant assassination threats and harassment were terrible for my family and my health.I'm relieved to say that I've done my part, and now it's someone else's turn.— Lee J. Carter (@carterforva) June 9, 2021
Sounds like he was ready to leave before he even ran for governor. He just thought he might as well give that a shot before he left.
Thinking fondly of the alternate timeline wherein we have footage of him finding out he won and he's deer-in-headlights like Trump on 8-Nov-2016.