Washington Fifth District congressional candidate Chris Armitage announced Friday that he's dropping out of the race.
The 28-year-old Democrat was a former military policeman who entered the race last year.
He issued a statement on Friday in which he said his mental health had declined during the last few months. “That trend continued until I reached a point where I knew that I could no longer be here for myself let alone our community.” He also said he recently learned about an allegation about a relationship he thought was consensual, but which the woman involved thought otherwise.
The Spokane Democrat was the lone Democrat running against Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Washington) for more than a year. Armitage, in an interview with SPR, said he didn’t like being labeled as a progressive, but supported many of the positions shared by more progressive members of Congress.
He was joined in the race earlier this spring by centrist Democrat Dave Wilson.
“When I step back and look at this race, I know I cannot be the person I want to be or the candidate I want to be right now," Armitage wrote. He went on to say, “I look forward to the growth and power of the movement and the opportunity for me to rediscover myself and my place within it.”