Gerald W. McEntee, Head of Afscme, to Step Down

Gerald W. McEntee, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees for three decades, said on Thursday that he would step down next June when his two-year term expires.

Mr. McEntee, one of the nation’s most powerful union leaders, has also served as chairman of the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s political committee for 15 years, playing a major role in revamping organized labor’s roles in presidential, Senate and House races.

Under Mr. McEntee, 76, the union grew to 1.4 million members, from 900,000, and became known for its political war chest. Mr. McEntee deployed his union’s and the A.F.L.-C.I.O.’s political funds not just to back Democratic candidates, but also to defeat efforts to privatize Social Security and change Medicare.

“It’s been a long time,” Mr. McEntee said in an interview. “I’m not out of gas; I’d like to see some other people take over.”

His decision was first reported by American Prospect magazine.

Danny Donohue, president of the Civil Service Employees Association, one of the union’s giant New York State affiliates, declared his candidacy on Thursday. Union officials said that Mr. McEntee’s No. 2, the union’s secretary-treasurer, Lee A. Saunders, was also likely to run for the union’s presidency. Mr. Saunders, who declined to comment about his plans, defeated Mr. Donohue in a race for the No. 2 spot in July 2010.

Mr. McEntee said in the interview that he would endorse Mr. Saunders.

Mr. McEntee announced his intentions in a year when his union has taken a beating, with Wisconsin and Ohio enacting laws that greatly curbed collective bargaining rights for state, county and city employees. But Mr. McEntee and his union have helped lead the fight to repeal the Ohio law in a referendum scheduled for Tuesday.

“If we win the repeal fight in Ohio,” Mr. McEntee said, “that will show everybody where we are and what we can do and will show a number of governors that they ought to think twice about any challenge to our union.”

But if the repeal effort is defeated, it will be embarrassing to Mr. McEntee and his union.

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