That's true, she didn't.
Since when did it become a negative for a politician to step down gracefully and hand over power?
She was faced with an unusual situation in which political operatives were using a loophole in state law against her. Rather than cling to power and allow herself and her state to be destroyed both politically and financially, (and becoming irrelevant in the future) she simply changed the battlefield and fought the Left on her terms.
Staying for the length of your elective term is now “clinging to power”?
Please name me other politicians who have stepped down gracefully and handed over power in the middle of their elected term. I can only think of one.