Brian Pettyjohn (Photo: Brian Pettyjohn's campaign website)
Eric Bodenweiser (Photo: WBOC)GEORGETOWN, Del.- Following GOP candidate Eric Bodenweiser's recent announcement that he is suspending his campaign for the 19th District senate seat in Delaware, the Sussex County Republican Committee said Tuesday that it will now support write-in candidate Brian Pettyjohn's bid for the seat.
Bodenweiser announced Friday that he was suspending his campaign for "personal reasons." The longtime politician is rumored to be the subject of a police investigation that alleges criminal conduct nearly 20 years ago. Police will not confirm or deny an investigation.
The Delaware Department of Elections said that Bodenweiser must officially withdraw from the race to be removed from the ballot. According to the Department of Elections, it is likely too late to change the machine ballot and many absentee voters who already submitted their forms are requesting new ballots.
Pettyjohn, a Republican who is also a former mayor of Georgetown, announced on Oct. 1 that he is running as a write-in candidate. While Bodenweiser officially remains a candidate for the senate seat, the Sussex Republican Committee announced Tuesday afternoon that it will now formally back Pettyjohn's campaign.
In a statement released to the media, Sussex Republican Committee spokesman Duke Brooks said the committee conducted an email poll of its executive members, comprising the election district committee persons and representative district chairs in the county.
"A quorum of the executive committee responded, and the committee has determined that the best course of action, in light of the committee's charge to elect Republican candidates in Sussex County, is for the Sussex County Republican Committee to support the write-in candidacy of Brian Pettyjohn for the 19th Senate district," Brooks said.
