Comstock drops out of mayoral race

Another candidate has left the race for Salt Lake City mayor, narrowing the field to a still-crowded seven.

Middle school wood-shop teacher Robert Comstock has withdrawn his candidacy to replace Mayor Rocky Anderson, citing time constraints.

"After a few months into the campaign, I came to the realization that an effective mayoral campaign is essentially a full-time endeavor," he wrote in an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News. "My responsibilities as a public schoolteacher did not allow that time commitment."

He could not be reached for further comment Thursday.

Comstock, a Democrat, joined the race in January, when he was one of 10 candidates. He was the only candidate to file a declaration with the city agreeing to spend no more than $75,000 of his own money on his campaign and to limit total campaign expenditures to no more than $375,000.

Those restrictions are a voluntary pledge instituted by Anderson in his 1999 campaign.

Last month, former state Democratic Party chairwoman Meghan Holbrook dropped out of the race when Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. appointed her to the state Transportation Commission. Another candidate, Arnold Matthew Jones, earlier this year had closed the personal campaign committee he had opened with the city recorder's office. The Deseret Morning News was never able to contact Jones about his candidacy.

The narrowing field does little to change the dynamics of the race. In a poll conducted by Dan Jones & Associates for the Deseret Morning News and KSL-TV on April 3-4, Comstock and Jones both came in with less than 1 percent of the vote. Holbrook's showing wasn't much stronger: She had the support of 2 percent of the respondents.

Leading that poll were Democratic Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, with 20 percent, and City Councilman Dave Buhler, a Republican, who came in at 12 percent.

The race's other candidates are House Minority Leader Ralph Becker, D-Salt Lake; former City Councilman Keith Christensen; colorectal surgeon J.P. Hughes; Centro Civico Mexicano director John Renteria; and City Councilwoman Nancy Saxton.

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E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com