Republican Congressional candidate Ed Martin announced today that he is withdrawing from the CD2 Republican Primary race. Martin cited family health issues.
Martin, who just returned from a family trip to Ireland, issued a statement late today offering mild support for the other Republicans currently in the race: Martha McSally and Shelley Kais. “There are two other viable candidates for the GOP. Either would be better than the weak representation we now have,” said Martin.
In his statement, Martin said, “I deeply appreciate the support of those who have joined in this effort during the past months as we have tested the waters and worked to build a foundation for a successful campaign. Sue and I have found it necessary to tend to family matters, and it would be unfair to ask those who have pledged to support this campaign, either financially or with their time, to do so given the personal challenges we find that we must confront.”
“It continues to be my hope that Southern Arizona will send a common sense conservative to Washington who can effectively fight to reverse the damage that has been done to our economy and constitutional protections. Our next Representative should be someone who can effectively fight to improve Southern Arizona and safeguard our community from federal decisions that hurt us.”
Chuck Wooten, Chief Master Sergeant, USAF (Ret), whose letter to Representative Paul Ryan about the cuts to veterans’ retirement benefits went viral and continues to travel across the world from military base to military base, has been heavily recruited in the past two weeks to run against McSally. McSally, who is heavily backed by John McCain, has already failed in two runs for the CD2 seat. She is not a favorite in the veteran heavy Southern Arizona area.
Wooten could not be reached for comment.
The Republican nominee will face Congressman Ron Barber. Barber, a former staffer with Representative Gabby Giffords, initially ran for the spot as a “place-filler.” After successfully keeping other Democrat hopefuls out of the race for the spot, Barber announced that he intended to be more than a “place-filler” and was elected to a second term. The apparent ploy to keep Democrat rivals out of the primary left many Democrats displeased with Barber.
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