Federal Industry Minister James Moore announced on Friday he will not run in the next election, so he can be there for his family and deal with the health challenges of his two-year-old son.

“I was committed (to run) until we got some tough news about the health of my son,” Moore told CTV’s Richard Madan. “He was born with a rare bone disease…and there are some complications.”

The 39-year-old minister said he’d been “wrestling” with the decision for several months.

“There comes a point where after 15 years in politics that you realize you have to make sure your priorities are right,” Moore said. “I’m just tired of leaving my son at the airport crying, and coming to Ottawa.”

The Prime Minister’s Office thanked Moore for his service in a statement on Friday. “As the Minister’s statement makes clear, he has a special needs son who is facing health issues,” the PMO said. “We fully understand his need to spend more time with his family and with the Minister, his wife Courtney and his son Spencer well.”

The PMO added that Moore will stay in his current cabinet position until the election.

Moore and his wife, former PMO adviser Courtney Payne, have a young son with a form of skeletal dysplasia, a condition that requires extensive care.

The 15-year MP has been a member of Stephen Harper’s cabinet since 2008. He previously held the Canadian Heritage portfolio from 2008 to 2013, and briefly served as interim Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in 2013. He was named Minister of Industry later that year.

“I want to thank the Prime Minister for his friendship and support when I have needed it most,” he said.

Moore, who has been a Member of Parliament for more than 10 years, is the latest high-profile Conservative candidate to bow out of the upcoming election, following hot on the heels of outgoing Minister of Justice Peter MacKay. Popular Conservative Alberta MP James Rajotte added his name to the list of departures late last week, when he declared he would not run again.

More than two dozen Conservatives have announced they will not seek re-election in the fall.

In addition to the pending departures of MacKay, Rajotte and Moore, the Conservatives are already without John Baird. Baird stepped away from his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs earlier this year to pursue a career in the private sector.

Government House Leader Peter Van Loan called the recent departures “normal turnover.”

“We’ve got tremendous bench strength in this Conservative party, a lot of very good talent that we have that continues to come up, and I expect that after the next election we’ll see a lot of very impressive new talent among Conservative MPs,” Van Loan told reporters.

The House leader also thanked Moore for his public service.

“I think he’s had an impressive political career of accomplishment,” Van Loan said. “I want to thank him for his contribution, and I think all Canadians thank him.”

Moore is MP for the B.C. riding of Port Moody-Westwood-Port Coquitlam.

He was first elected to the House of Commons as a member of the Canadian Alliance Party in 2000, and later became one of Stephen Harper’s earliest supporters when the Conservative Party of Canada was established. He is also credited with playing a key role in orchestrating the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.