FLINT, MI — Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley has dropped out of the race to succeed Dan Kildee in Congress, saying Democratic Party leaders were not letting candidates compete on an even playing field.
“Party leaders made it clear that they planned to stack the deck in favor of their preferred candidate,” Neeley said in a statement issued on Friday, April 26. “In doing this, they made it challenging for other candidates to compete. Perhaps even worse, they outright ignored the strong list of minority candidates in the race and discounted the qualities they have to offer.”
MLive-The Flint Journal could not immediately reach the Michigan Democratic Party for comment on the mayor’s remarks late Friday.
Neeley, a former state representative who is serving his second term as mayor, filed to run for the 8th Congressional District seat in late January.
In addition to the mayor, Democrats Matt Collier, Kristen McDonald Rivet, and Pamela Pugh qualified for the Aug. 6 ballot among Democrats. Republicans Mary Draves, Anthony J. Hudson, Paul Junge and Nikki Snyder have also qualified for the ballot.
Kildee announced in November that he would not seek re-election when his current term ends at the close of this year.
Although he has not formally endorsed a candidate to succeed him, two of his campaign war chests contributed $14,000 to McDonald Rivet’s campaign earlier this month, the maximum allowed by law.
Neeley’s statement Friday says he decided to leave the race “after lots of prayer and discussions with my family.”
“As I took the time to weigh this decision, I heard from a lot of people who said they did not want to lose me as mayor,” he said. “They urged me to stay in Flint and to continue to fight for our community in City Hall. Those feelings have resonated with me, and have persuaded me that there is still a lot I want to accomplish here at home.”
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