Brain Tumor Forces Filante to Suspend Congress Campaign
SACRAMENTO — Assemblyman William J. Filante (R-Greenbrae), who is running for a San Francisco-area congressional seat, announced that a brain tumor has forced him to suspend campaigning and might require him to resign if he were elected.
Filante, who is running against Democrat Lynn Woolsey in the 6th Congressional District, which covers Marin and Sonoma counties, revealed his decision Wednesday. He urged voters to support him anyway to “send a message to end the status-quo . . . Congress.”
“My health is such that I will not be able to campaign for the remainder of the race,” Filante said in a statement distributed by his office. “I believe it is in my best interest to focus all of my energies on my recovery.”
Filante, the Legislature’s only physician, said his name would remain on the Nov. 3 ballot. State election officials said ballots are already being printed, and it is too late to remove a candidate’s name or replace a candidate.
Woolsey, a Petaluma City Council member, was considered to be leading in the race even before Filante’s tumor was diagnosed.
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