Elliott unopposed

Anne Ray Streeter, a Democrat from Liberty who had filed to run for State Representative for the 54th District against Republican Daniel Elliott, has withdrawn from the race.

“As much as I believed in and support the educational cause that I was representing and the things I thought I could help with, I realized that, at this time in my life, I could not commit to the time would take to run a campaign and serve,” Streeter said via phone on Friday.

She filed on Jan. 29 and withdrew one week later, on Feb. 5. Streeter said she filed due to her “gut feeling.”

“I then realized it’s not the right thing to do, I’m going to have to serve in other ways,” she said.

Streeter said she feels badly for potentially letting her supporters down.

“I had a wonderful outpouring of support. I appreciate that and I feel I let them down. But I had to make that decision … The Democratic Committee in Boyle County and Casey County were behind me 100 percent,” she said. “I met a lot of people in the one week of my campaign.”

She said she has respect for those who choose to run for office and serve in that way, because it does take a lot of commitment.

For Streeter, however, the timing was bad.

“I went to a day-long training and I realized what an effort it takes to run a campaign … Not just an 11-month campaign, but a two-year commitment, if I were to win. I was hopeful that I might win,” she said.

Streeter believes there are a lot of good candidates across the state.

“Our slogan was ‘Educators make better Legislators.’ There’s 39 running for office, I know they will represent well. And there’s more women running, from both parties,” she said.

She hopes that others will chose to continue to “speak out and make their voice heard.”

“I plan to,” she said.

And, while it might be too late for a Democrat or Republican to file, Streeter said, “It’s not too late for an Independent to run.”

SO YOU KNOW

According to the Kentucky Secretary of State’s website, the deadline for an Independent to file a Statement-Of-Candidacy form for the Office of State Representatives is April 2; to file a Nominating Petition, for candidate who has not been nominated by a qualified party or political organization, is Aug. 14. The deadline for a write-in candidate to file is Oct. 26.