ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — Katherine Pinner is removing her name as GOP candidate in the St. Louis County Executive race after a back-and-forth between withdrawing her name, and staying in the race.
Pinner announced the official withdrawal on her blog, one week after it was announced by Republican party officials that Pinner would be dropping out.
Four days after the initial announcement of her withdrawal, Pinner said she would still run for the general election to face Democratic incumbent Sam Page.
On Friday, Sept. 2, Pinner said in her blog that her reasons for withdrawing her candidacy were threefold.
"The exempt status, though feasible for the Primary Election, presents difficulty moving into the General Election," Pinner stated in the blog post.
She cited "personal items," as another reason and said "items related to traditional campaigning and financing do not correspond to my core values," was the final reason for her departure.
An order and judgment from the Circuit Court in St. Louis County shows the order to remove her name from the ballot. Paper ballots had not yet been printed as of the order.
Pinner said she hopes for a new candidate who can "hit the ground running" to face issues in St. Louis County.
Pinner will have to petition a judge to remove her name from the November ballot since the deadline to formally withdraw has passed.
After Pinner's initial announcement of departure, Chair of the Republican Central Committee of St. Louis County Rene Artman told 5 On Your Side the Republican Party will have two weeks to find and announce a new candidate.
The process will have to be completely finished by Sept. 30, Artman said.
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