Calloway County Attorney David Harrington is dropping out of the state house race for the 5th district.
The Democrat says that despite information he was given prior to filing, he found that he would have to retire as county attorney before September 30th in order to run, something he does not want to do.
“Basically, according to law, there has to be some sort of break in time between moving into one position from another, and it means I would have to resign my position here before I even knew the results of the election,” said Harrington. “I knew it was going to be a tough election and I didn’t think that would be fair to the people here in Calloway County.
“So what I’ve decided to do is simply drop out because the timing now is just not right," said Harrington. "Maybe in a couple of years, the timing will be right since my plans are to finish my term here and retire. But I’ll still be here in Murray trying to form some sort of public service for the people.”
Harrington filed his candidacy just before the January 28th deadline, but says he found out about the retirement provision shortly after.
“I found out about that provision about mid-February and I’ve spent the last month trying to find a way to work through that. When I found out we weren’t going to be successful at getting around the fact, I decided it would be good to get out of the race now so that way if anybody wanted to contribute any money, maybe they could contribute to some other candidates in the area instead.”
Harrington says he wants to keep his promise to serve in the position through December.
With Harrington out of the contest, Republican Representative Kenny Imes is now running unopposed.
Imes, a Calloway County-native, held the 5th district seat through four terms between 1972 and 1979. He was re-elected to the post in 2012 beating Democrat Hal Kemp. Imes has served on the state government, transportation and veterans, military affairs and public safety committees. He owns Imes Funeral Home in Murray.
