Virgin withdraws from mayoral race | News – Kokomo Perspective

The field in this years mayoral race has diminished by one.

Last Friday Libertarian candidate for mayor Michael Virgin announced he was withdrawing his bid for mayor. In doing so, he endorsed Republican candidate for mayor Tyler Moore. Virgins name still will appear on the ballot in the upcoming election, as the deadline for official withdrawal already passed, but Virgin encouraged his supporters to align with the Republican candidate.

In a campaign release, Virgin said the move partially was driven by a job opportunity.

Oftentimes when we find that golden apple, we forget to look at where it came from, and we overlook the entire tree full of golden apples. Well, I looked past that single apple and noticed the tree. I have been given an opportunity at a job I have thought about for quite some time in my life, since 2013 to be quite honest. That is my golden apple. While I may not end up getting the job not sure why that would happen, but there is always the slim chance I have to pick that apple up and take the chance.

Virgin first entered this years political fray in March after the Libertarian Party of Indiana elected him to represent this party in the citys municipal election. Since then his campaign focused on increasing the number of public safety personnel, while also calling for improved road infrastructure as well as encouraging economic development through deregulation.

In announcing his withdrawal, the 49-year-old Lafayette-native said he and Moore met last week, giving rise to his decision to withdraw from the race.

I met with Tyler on Sept. 20 at the Republican headquarters, just him and me, said Virgin. We sat there together and discussed our mutual goals for the city of Kokomo ... We discussed the future of Kokomo in general, and there really was no difference in what we wanted.

I was able to share with him a few ideas that I had not talked about publicly. We discussed that both of us had heard that our ideas were similar enough that some people were actually torn between whether they should vote for him or for me and that it could impact our runs and act as a free pass to the third candidate.

VIrgins withdrawal means Moore and Democrat Abbie Smith will be the lone mayoral candidates campaigning in the lead up to the General Election on Nov. 5.

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Virgin withdraws from mayoral race | News - Kokomo Perspective