A day after I reported that Terry Marquardt was staying in the race to replace Steve Pearce in Congress, Marquardt announced today that he’s changed his mind and is dropping out.
“Our goal to elect a proven conservative with a proven record of results as our next congressman did merit our efforts,” the Republican Marquardt said today in an e-mail to supporters. “However, I underestimated the disadvantages and difficulties that proved to be insurmountable with a late start. For this reason, after careful consideration and consultation with trusted advisers, I have decided to withdraw from the race for
Marquardt thanked his family and supporters, saying they “refused to rest easy” and “used personal involvement to achieve the greater good.”
“The challenge of a statesman is to have the vision to dream of a better, safer world, and the courage, persistence and the patience to turn that dream into reality,” Marquardt wrote. “I still have that vision, and I will continue to work with you to turn that dream into reality.”
After receiving two votes, or about 1 percent, at Saturday’s preprimary nominating convention, Marquardt said in an e-mail to me over the weekend that he had already gathered more than enough signatures to stay in the race.
“The campaign moves forward,” he said in that weekend e-mail. “At this point, we have much work ahead of us.”