Shaun McClusky saw the handwriting on the wall and quit the mayoral race today, ahead of his court date tomorrow. Still, in his press release, he manages to blame Jeff Rogers for a paragraph before acknowledging that the real issue was his ability to get enough qualified signatures from actual Tucson voters:

Based on information from a pre-trial hearing today, and at the advice of my attorneys, I am withdrawing from the race to become Tucson's next mayor. A number of the signatures which I gathered were not properly witnessed by the gatherers, and based on that information I will not have the required number of petitions to qualify for the ballot. Therefore, as of today, I am withdrawing my petitions and candidacy for the Mayor's race.

Unfortunately, Democratic Party Chairman Jeff Rogers and the local political machine he heads have chosen, and show every indication of continuing to choose, legal means to bully, intimidate and financially damage any and all candidates in these elections with the exception of their own hand-picked representatives, and to this point it's clear that their tactics have succeeded admirably.

Regardless, the fact that I was not able to turn in a sufficient number of petitions is my fault. And I want to sincerely apologize to all my supporters for this mistake, I know many of you have worked hard to help my campaign, and I know this hurts you as much as it does me.

Tucson needs new leadership, and I hope that all of you will re-dedicated yourselves—as I am—to getting both Tyler Vogt and Jennifer Rawson elected to the City Council. Both Tyler and Jennifer are quality candidates who deserve your support.

Sincerely,

Shaun McClusky