After having unwittingly altered election law in Arizona, Oro Valley mayoral candidate Joe Winfield announced on Saturday that he has removed himself from the race. Winfield apologized for poor judgment to the large crowd attending a candidate forum in Sun City.
In his opening comments, Winfield acknowledged that many people viewed him as a “spoiler, a fake, and other things,” and that many residents were concerned with his last minute entry into the race. Winfield ran out of time before completing his statement.
In response to the first question asked of the candidates, Winfield stated, “In deference to Mr. Straney, I’m dropping out of the race. I’m not going to be a candidate. I know my name will be on the ballot and I’m sorry for that.”
“Something we all share in common is that we made some poor judgements, that’s what drew me into this,” continued Winfield. “I can acknowledge my poor judgement to enter this recall election, even though the intent was genuine and sincere, it was poor judgement on my part and I apologize.”
The audience applauded Winfield despite the fact that they were asked to withhold applause until the end.
One attendee described Winfield’s public statement as “brave” while others found it predictable. As he stated, Winfield’s candidacy was seen as a ploy to pull support from mayoral candidate Pat Straney in order let the current mayor Satish Hiremath survive the recall election.
Winfield had decided to run for the spot at the last minute. The nominating petitions he filed were flawed, prompting a legal challenge. Despite the fact that Winfield was advised his petitions were unqualified flawed petitions, he allowed the case to move forward in court. The ruling in that case, by Pima County Superior Court Gus Aragon, left much confusion over Arizona’s election laws.