Rusty Kidd Won’t Seek Re-Election

Rusty Kidd, who represents House District 145 in Milledgeville as Georgia’s only independent, told the Millegeville Union Recorder that he will abandon his bid for re-election to the state house this fall due to health concerns. He was first elected to the House in 2009. In his interview with the Union Recorder, Kidd said,

A lot of people here in town and in Atlanta both know that I’ve had some health-related problems the last few years due to my accident back in 1999. So what I’m going to do is not run for office and try to take care of those health problems.

To me, if can’t do the job at 100 percent then I don’t want to do it. I feel like I’m letting my constituents down if I can’t do the job at 100 percent because that’s what I demand of myself. Right now I think the best thing for me to do is to go ahead and drop out of the race.

A spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s office told us that the elections division has not been formally notified of Kidd’s intention to withdraw from the race. She added that there is still time to have Kidd’s name removed from ballots to avoid voter confusion.

Two funeral directors will now battle for Kidd’s seat. Floyd Griffin is running as a Democrat, while Ricky WIlliams is running as a Republican. Griffin is a former State Senator. Kidd has not indicated if he will endorse either candidate.