Daryl Dudley suspends city council campaign amid controversy

Daryl Dudley is suspending his campaign for Columbia City Council.

This comes as the fourth ward candidate has been met with controversy following a formal complaint filed by opponent Ian Thomas.

In a news release, Dudley cites “recent distractions” that “are overshadowing very real issues facing the City of Columbia and making it impossible for him to continue campaigning.”

The new release also states that Dudley intends to return money from two large donations that were incorrectly reported.

It says the new release is meant to clarify that the campaign intends to take or has already taken the following actions:

-Cancel all advertising purchased with those funds

-Ask media agency to return money to campaign from the cancellations and for any media that has already ran and been paid for, minus any fees associated with their work.

-No new advertising will be purchased with those funds

-The balance of unused funds will be returned

The release says “Daryl is deeply sorry that issues surrounding his campaign have detracted from important, pressing and unresolved issues that face our city.”

The release makes no mention of Thomas’ complaint.