Demorest downtown businessman Lawrence Bridges dropped out of the race for Demorest City Council on Monday afternoon, six days after early voting began and just two weeks before the election.
Bridges has been on the city's Downtown Development Authority and was running for the council for the first time. He missed the Oct. 14 candidate forum with health issues and is still battling lingering health concerns, he said Monday.
"After long consideration and other business and career opportunities on the near horizon, I felt it was best for me to pull out of the race for Demorest City Council," Bridges said Tuesday. "I'm confident that the city will be in good hands with the new incoming leadership. Thank you to the citizens of Demorest."
The two council seats are up for grabs between incumbents Shawn Allen and Jim Welborn, and challenger Roy Ferguson.
Read more about the Demorest races in the midweek edition of The Northeast Georgian.