PROVO — Former two-term Utah County Commissioner David J. Gardner, twice arrested for drunken driving while he was in office, will not seek re-election to the three-man county panel.

Gardner withdrew his name from the list of candidates on Tuesday, a day before he was required to present a petition of 300 signatures of registered voters that would allow him to run as an unaffiliated candidate.

Utah's election law requires unaffiliated candidates to submit the petition of names when they file for office. Gardner, who previously held office as a Republican, had filed for the seat occupied by Steve White, a Republican.

County elections officials said they mistakenly accepted the filing without the needed signatures. After the error was uncovered, officials were unable to reach Gardner before the 5 p.m. Friday candidate filing deadline.

As a result, the county elections office agreed to give the Springville man a 48-hour window to collect the required signatures. That deadline was set for 4 p.m. today.

Instead, Gardner presented a letter of withdrawal to the county elections office Tuesday, said Sandy Hoffmann, Utah County elections coordinator.

Gardner declined to comment on his filing or the reason he decided to withdraw.

Gardner served on the commission from 1994-2002. His first arrest came in 1999 when he was found trying to stomp out a fire in the Palmyra area with his shoes, saying he spotted a fire in the grass. He later said an unidentified hitchhiker gave him a swig of something that made his car smell like liquor when it spilled.

Gardner failed a sobriety test that same evening, but the evidence was disputed in the subsequent court hearing and the charge dismissed.

In 2002, he was arrested for a second time after Provo police said they witnessed Gardner driving erratically. He pleaded guilty to that charge.

Gardner also made headlines for his role in a disorderly conduct incident in 2000 after he was accused of roughing up a neighbor boy for allegedly harassing his children.

Bill Ellis, from Orem, and Shirrel Robinson Young, from Thistle, are challenging White for the Republican nomination for the county commission seat. Democrat Joseph Brierley, Spanish Fork, is running for the office.

---

E-mail: jpage@desnews.com