This week, Independent candidate Charles Conrad withdrew his name from the November House District 12 race after failing to receive sufficient support from Democratic voters at the polls.

Because Oregon is a closed primary state, only partisan voters could cast a vote in the May ballot for the position. While write-in votes were tallied, Conrad said that receiving only 1,200 write-ins for his name – about 24% of the vote – is “meaningful and demonstrates that our message resonated with voters.”

However, 4,157 (76%) of registered Democrats voted for its party’s candidate, Amber Smith – a number he’d hope would have been much smaller, especially considering voters have voiced concerns about Smith’s lack of engagement through the election cycle.

“The simple fact that 76% of voters selected someone who did not run a campaign — no website, no campaign manager, no platform, no public speaking events, and who ignored outreach from the Lane County Democratic Party — was disheartening,” Conrad said.

Smith could not be reached for comment for this story, and did not respond to requests to participate in The Chronicle’s election coverage.

Conrad said that without the Democratic Party’s help and resources, and significant funding, “we will be unable to engage enough people to be competitive in a three-person race in November. In good conscience, I can’t ask people to donate money, time, and energy to a cause I believe has slightly more than a zero chance of success.”

Conrad left the Republican Party and changed his party registration to the Independent Party of Oregon.

Darin Harbick and Smith will face off in the November election.