In just over six months, interim San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee has gone from a reluctant appointee who described himself as "not a politician" to a likely candidate who threatens to overshadow most of the declared mayoral contenders.

Here's a look at the shift in Lee's tone over time:

A Reluctant Ed Lee Is Thrust into the Spotlight

Jan. 3: A last-minute, behind-the-scenes push by Chinatown power broker Rose Pak, former Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. and Mayor Gavin Newsom convinces a reluctant Ed Lee, then the city administrator, to consider serving as mayor, and secures the support of several supervisors. Lee's primary concern is that he be allowed to return to his previous job after leaving the mayor's office. Full story.

Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen, Getty Images

Rose Pak, left, Gavin Newsom, center, and Willie Brown were behind Ed Lee's emergence as the Board of Supervisors' pick for interim mayor

Political Fireworks as Lee Wins a Majority

Jan. 4: Lee gains the support of the majority of the Board of Supervisors after a closed-door meeting between holdout Supervisor Bevan Dufty and Mayor Gavin Newsom. Progressive Supervisor Chris Daly calls the maneuver “the biggest fumble in the history of San Francisco progressive politics” before famously declaring, “It’s on like Donkey Kong.” Full story.

Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

Supervisor Chris Daly during the Board of Supervisors meeting Jan. 4, 2010

Swearing-In Ceremony

Jan. 11: Lee is sworn in as San Francisco's first Chinese-American mayor.

The Speculation Begins

Jan. 20: Barely a week after Lee takes office, the Chronicle's C.W. Nevius writes: "Lee may be the interim, but don't kid yourself. There are people right now who are asking him if he'd like to make a run for the office in November."

An Emphatic Denial

Feb. 9: Lee tells the San Francisco Examiner he is "solidly in the ‘no’ column on running.”

'My Goal Is to Restore the Trust'

Feb. 15: Lee tells a room full of Bay Citizen reporters and editors definitively that he won't run. "Part of my goal in this year is to restore the trust" that people used to have in the mayor's office, he said. "That, to me, is the foundation of trust-building with the public. You promise something, or you indicate there’s something that we should be doing and you support it — you carry it out." Full story.

A Committee Is Formed

May 16: The Progress for All committee, the group behind the "Run, Ed, Run" campaign, files its first paperwork with the city's Ethics Commission.

Signature Gathering Begins

May 18: The Bay Citizen reports that former San Francisco supervisors have begun gathering signatures and raising money to push Lee to run. Full story.

A Campaign without a Candidate

June: The "Run, Ed, Run" campaign launches a website and qualifies as an official committee. The campaign's headquarters open on Mission Street June 24. Lee still gives no sign of planning to run. Full story.

Luke Thomas/Fog City Journal

Ed Lee

Questions about Financing

June 24: A San Francisco Examiner article explores potential problems surrounding the Progress for All committee's fundraising activities. Former Supervisor Chris Daly tells The Bay Citizen that Lee's supporters have "found possibly the biggest loophole in campaign finance laws having Ed Lee play the reluctant candidate."

Big Spending

July 19: The "Run, Ed, Run" campaign's lawyers send a letter to the Ethics Commission detailing nearly $60,000 in expenditures from June 4 through July 19.

A Shift in Tone

July 21: For the first time, Lee declines to rule out a run for mayor, telling the San Francisco Chronicle that he has been involved in "interesting discussions about the future of the city." Meanwhile, organizers say they have gathered 30,000 signatures in support of the "Run, Ed, Run" campaign.

Four More Years?

July 26: Lee says he has talked with his wife and daughters about the possibility of spending four more years in the mayor's office. "They've also been asking how I feel, if I'm healthy, and when I'm going to play another round of golf," he said. Full story.

Feelings of Betrayal

July 28: Lee's apparent shift sends shockwaves through the campaigns of some of the declared candidates. “We hope that he’d be a man of his word and a man of integrity,” board President David Chiu tells The Bay Citizen. Full story.

Deadline for a Declaration

Aug. 12: The deadline for Lee to file papers to enter the race.