Rebecca Wurzburger, bottom left, withdrew from the mayor's race on Saturday
Days after the city councilor discovered that she failed to qualify for public financing, Rebecca Wurzburger dropped out of the mayor's race.
Wurzburger told SFR last week that she would attempt to collect private donations for fund her campaign, but she issued a statement Saturday with a different message:
"Now is the time for the Mayor's race to focus on policy issues and ideas for the future of Santa Fe, rather than on raising money," Wurzburger wrote in a statement emailed to media by her campaign manager Mark Fleisher on Saturday afternoon. "Now is the time to engage the community in a dialogue about leveraging our powerful assets to make smart investments in our future. I cannot effectively concentrate on this effort while simultaneously fundraising. Therefore, with very mixed emotions, I am withdrawing my name as a candidate for the Mayor of Santa Fe."
Wurzburger also wrote favorably about former Democratic Party Chairman and county commissioner Javier Gonzales, calling him "the only candidate who shares my vision."
"I am confident Javier has the leadership skills to collaboratively work with others to create the new markets, new business, new jobs and improve the economic infrastructure of Santa Fe," she wrote.
Wurzburger, a councilor whose 12 years on the governing body will end in March, is the second mayoral contender to drop out of the race in recent weeks with a nod of support to Gonzales. Roman "Tiger" Abeyta, withdrew his name from the contest last week and said he favors Gonzales for the job.
Gonzales tells SFR in an interview late Saturday that he had limited conversations with both candidates before they chose to leave the race.
"I thought we would have five people in the race. I didn't expect that people would be dropping out," he says.
Gonzales noted that he made no promises about future City Hall jobs to either one of them, but rather is looking forward to having their assistance in the weeks ahead.
"I give both of them a lot of credit because this is about Santa Fe moving forward, not about themselves," he says."Each one comes with a different constituency and I will need their help to reach out top their supporters."
Wurzburger said Tuesday that she was asking supporters for monetary support her after she failed to qualify for public financing .
"The immediate challenge is to quickly raise $60,000.00 to finance our campaign so we can compete with those who will have public financing," she wrote on her website. "This will be difficult, but not impossible, with your help."
The three candidate are left in the race are Gonzales, City Councilor Bill Dimas and City Councilor Patti Bushee. The election is March 4.
