Democrat Carla Dearing, a Louisville businesswoman, announced Friday she will no longer seek to become the city’s next mayor.
“This is simply not the right time for me and my family to undertake this effort,” Dearing said in a statement.
Dearing announced her candidacy in early October, when she entered an already packed race.
At the time, she promised to focus on public safety and low-income communities. She reiterated support for these issues in her statement Friday.
“Louisville needs leadership that brings everyone to the table and includes those who have historically lacked access to power and community investment,” Dearing said.
She said she will continue this work even though she’s no longer running for mayor.
Dearing announced her candidacy after the first deadline for candidates to report funds raised to the Kentucky Registry of Election Finance. She hasn’t reported any campaign contributions to date. The next filing deadline is in early January.
With Dearing out of the race, there are now seven people still running for mayor: five Democrats — Craig Greenberg, David Nicholson, Shameka Parrish-Wright, Rev. Timothy Findley, Jr. and Anthony Oxendine — and two Republicans — Bill Deiruf and Philip Molestina.
