Libertarian Candidate for Governor Appears to Offer to Drop Out for Medical Bill Payments

A post on the Facebook page of Ted Metz, libertarian candidate for Georgia governor, appeared late Friday offering to drop out of the closely-contested race in exchange for payment of his medical bills.

“To all the Republicans and Democrats urging me to drop out of the race: Put your money where your mouth is,” Metz’ post said. “If my GoFundMe account to pay for my medical bills reaches the goal by noon on Monday, I will withdraw from the campaign.”

Metz, a 60-year-old Navy veteran and former scientist who ran for the state’s Commissioner of Insurance in 2014 as a libertarian, lost an ear battling cancer earlier this year. The post went dead about half an hour after coming up. The GoFundMe page remains live.

Democrat Stacey Abrams and Republican Brian Kemp remain in a statistical tie in polling with four days to go and more than 1.5 million votes cast. Metz has generally polled below three percent in the race, but could force a runoff if neither major-party candidate crosses the 50-percent threshold of votes.

I’ve reached out to Metz through social media for clarification, asking if the post was legitimate. Through Facebook, he replied “it was not – but the press inquiries indicate I should have done something like this sooner.” He has not yet answered further clarifying questions.