A Republican candidate for the New York state Senate ended her campaign on Wednesday after announcing that she had a recent affair.
"I have made personal decisions that have ultimately resulted in the necessity of my stepping down from the campaign,” Gia Arnold wrote on her campaign’s Facebook page. “I participated in an extramarital affair beginning in August of this year. It was an excuse for an escape from an already declining marriage. I cannot regret the decisions I have made, but I can admit to being happier presently than before.”
“It is for my ex husband, my children, my family and friends that I must publicly admit to my actions as I believe honesty and integrity are of utmost importance in life,” she added.
Arnold also published her cellphone number and said that she was willing to talk with constituents.
On her campaign website, Arnold takes conservative positions on several issues, and says she favors limited government. She also describes the importance of integrity for elected officials.
“Gia believes that becoming a politician is not the role of a leader or ruler, but instead one of a servant and representative,” her website says.
Arnold would have faced a challenger in a September primary, and it’s unclear how her affair would have impacted her electoral chances. Rep. Vance McAllister (R-La.), who was caught kissing one of his staffers in April, is running for re-election and is leading one recent poll. Last year, voters in South Carolina elected Rep. Mark Sanford (R) to Congress several years after he admitted to an affair when he was the state’s governor.
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