Christopher Mitchell, a young Democrat who was aspiring to political office for the first time this year in the hotly contested open District 47 House seat being vacated by term limited Republican Kevin Ambler, announced today that he was withdrawing from the primary election.
In a press release, Mitchell says he now supports former Hillsborough County Democratic party chief and congressional candidate Michael Steinberg.
We knew from the beginning that this would be an uphill battle and knew then what was needed to win this election. Unfortunately I was unable to achieve necessary objectives to give us an opportunity to challenge for this seat and I am deeply disappointed. I owe it to my supporters, to the party and our community to be realistic about our chances moving forward. After greatly considering the urgent health needs of my family, and the greater objectives of the Democratic Party, I have come to a very difficult decision.
Today, I am announcing that I am withdrawing from the State Representative race for District 47. I will be throwing my full support behind Michael Steinberg as we both share the same vision for our community and will be joining his campaign in an advisory role so that all of our hard work can continue on through his campaign.
Back in December, Mitchell attempted to make a story out of Steinberg's lawsuit against the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies after Steinberg got hosed at the inaugural of Barack Obama and was denied entrance to the historic occasion.
But that was then. The GOP race for District 47 is quite competitive, with Irene Guy, Rich Reidy, Tom Aderhold and former Hillsborough County Commissioner Brian Blair all in the mix.
This article appears in Mar 3-9, 2010.