Gia Arnold drops out of state Senate race
- Gia Arnold announced Wednesday that she%27s dropping out of the race to represent the 62nd District
- She said she %22participated%22 in an extramarital affair early this month
- Arnold said her remaining campaign funds would be donated to charity
In an early morning email admitting to an extramarital affair, state Senate candidate Gia Arnold announced Wednesday that she's dropping out of the race to represent the 62nd District.
"My campaign was about integrity, so I made a decision to come clean and tell people," Arnold said Wednesday in a telephone conversation. In her news release, Arnold apologized to her supporters and said her personal decisions "ultimately resulted in the necessity of my stepping down from the campaign."
She said she "participated" in an extramarital affair early this month that was "an excuse for escape from an already declining marriage."
The 24-year-old said she moved to Lockport this week after breaking up with her husband. The couple and their three children previously lived in Holley, Orleans County.
Arnold, a staunch anti-SAFE Act activist whose name will remain on the ballot despite her announcement, had planned to challenge North Tonawanda Mayor Rob Ortt in the Republican primary in September. She did not have the Republican Party endorsement, but had been endorsed by the Orleans County Conservative Party.
The winner of that race will face off against Democrat Johnny Destino in a bid to succeed state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, Niagara County.
The 62nd District comprises all of Niagara and Orleans counties, and the towns of Sweden and Ogden in Monroe County.
Niagara County Republican Committee Chairman Scott Kiedrowski said Wednesday morning that he had only heard about Arnold's decision on the news and could not comment. Arnold said she was unsure whether she would make any bids for political office in the future. She said her remaining campaign funds would be donated to charity.
The move is another turn in an already peculiar race: last month, Maziarz, 61, made a suprise announcement that he would not seek reelection. After serving in the state Senate since 1995, he said he no longer had the passion and commitment to see a campaign season through. Some of his staffers have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan in connection with an investigation into his use of campaign cash. However, Maziarz has said all his spending was properly documented.
MCDERMOT@DemocratandChronicle.com