CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson says in a letter to Mayor Rahm Emanuel that she's stepping down because she cannot adequately represent her ward while she deals with "very painful family health matters."

Jackson does not offer specifics, but her resignation on Friday follows the resignation from Congress by her husband, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. He has for months been treated for mental and physical health problems.

Jackson says that even as she values the public trust that comes with being an alderman, she suggested that she needed to devote herself to her husband and their children.