MIAMI — State Sen. Jack Gordon is withdrawing from the race for the late Claude Pepper's U.S. House seat just two days after announcing his candidacy, an aide said today.
Gordon, 67, became the first Democrat to enter the race for the seat held by Pepper, a liberal Democrat, since 1962. Aide Mike Petit refused to say why Gordon was withdrawing.
Some Democratic leaders had expressed concern that Gordon, a Miami Beach liberal first elected to the state Senate in 1972, would be unable to attract conservative Latino voters needed to win the Aug. 29 election. The district is nearly half Latino. Two conservative Cuban-American Republicans--state Sen. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and businessman Carlos Perez--announced their candidacies last week along with lawyer Jeff Allen.
