Gill formally pulls out of mayor's race

Republican mayoral candidate John Gill formally resigned as his party’s candidate Tuesday.

Without citing any reasons, Gill submitted a letter to the city clerk declaring that he was giving up the GOP’s mayoral slot on the November 3 ballot.

Republicans have said in recent days they were waiting for Gill’s resignation before taking public steps to pick a successor.

Gill, a 29-year-old attorney, tsaid this week he is leaving the race but declined to talk about the reason.

Party officials said, however, that Gill told them a health issue arose unexpectedly that precluded him from continuing in the race against Mayor Art Ward, a Democrat, and independent hopeful Gary Lawton.

Party leaders said they are talking to prospective candidates and may be angling to put a woman at the top of the ticket. No solid names have surfaced.

Gill emerged from obscurity last month to leap into the contest for the city’s top job. He was nominated by the Republican Town Committee soon afterward.

Apparently, Gill learned about two weeks later of a health issue that required him to leave the race.

Though Gill didn’t want to talk about the problem, several party officials said Gill had good reason to pull out and could not have known earlier that his campaign would be cut short.

Republicans need at least five days before they can pick a successor candidate in order follow rules about calling the required party meeting.

They could, however, name someone as their likely standard bearer before giving the next mayoral candidate a legal green light to run.

*******

Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.
Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com