Monday, May 28, 2007

Simon withdraws

Ellen Simon has withdrawn from the Democratic race for AZ-1, my congressional district.
May 28, 2007

Your support over the past year has meant a great deal to me and my family. I can never thank you enough for putting your energy, time and trust in me.

However, today I am announcing my withdrawal from the race for Arizona's First Congressional District.

Over the past two years, as I've traveled across our district, I've been privileged to meet so many of you. You continue to inspire me today and I will continue to try my best to serve this district. Although I won't be on the ballot in the next election, I feel confident that the Democratic Party in Arizona is stronger than ever and that there are a number of exciting, well-qualified leaders that would make terrific representatives. I will do everything in my power to make certain that one of these worthy Democrats takes back this seat and restores the high level of dignity and integrity that this district deserves.

Furthermore, in recent weeks I've decided to take on an important issue that is very close to my heart, an issue that, if I were to run, would undoubtedly compete for my attention.

The continual barrage of deceitful political advertising and character assassination is becoming far too commonplace in our national political culture. Too often, slanderous campaign ads go unchallenged. So I will be founding a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring integrity in political campaign communications.

I believe that each one of us has something valuable to contribute to the civic life of our communities and our country. I am becoming more convinced each day that the best use of my talent is to implement effective strategies that will return civility to our political process.

Again, thank you so much for your support.

Ellen Simon



I'm glad to see this, as Ms. Simon ran a very lackluster campaign in 2006(full disclosure: I volunteered for her campaign, and was disappointed by a defeatist attitude within her staff). While she's a fine person, we need to win in this competitive district. The evil Renzi or another rethug like him are unacceptable. I'm glad she's working for campaign integrity, as the Renzi campaign attacked her mercilessly, but sometimes you need to fight back. She didn't.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Subrosa, she was threatened, we are facing that kind of adversary. When you receive threats you cannot defend against, what do you do?

pygalgia said...

Call them out, loud and clear, as lies and false innuendo. The politics of character assassination only work if you can make the slime stick. Because Simon chose to not respond, many people thought that the attacks were valid.