In an eleventh-hour twist, Ryan Corcoran dropped out of the race for Madison City Council, leaving only incumbent Ald. Austin King, District 8, and business owner Kami Eshraghi as candidates for the position of alder. Interestingly, Corcoran can still influence today's primary. Because his name will remain on the ballot, Corcoran could garner enough votes in order to finish first or second, sealing an automatic victory for either Eshraghi or King in the April 5 election.
\The campaign started getting negative and started losing focus, and I decided this wasn't something I wanted to continue,"" Corcoran said. ""It's been one of those things ... I received bad advice and I exercised some poor judgement, and I feel like it is something I want to wash my hands of and move past.""
In addition to offering an apology for a guest column recently appearing in the Badger Herald, which Corcoran said strayed from campaign issues and ""came off as very negative,"" Corcoran offered his support for King's re-election bid.
Responding to Corcoran's withdrawal, Kami Eshraghi expressed disappointment that the two would not have the opportunity to debate. Eshraghi was also suspicious of Corcoran's endorsement of King.
""I wasn't considering this rumor, but a lot of people were telling me that he was running in essence, to have my camp use resources ... and it sounds more and more that he was a pawn. I feel bad for him; he seems like a nice kid,"" Eshraghi said. ""This is just absurd, who pulls out the night before the primary?""
Corcoran's sudden departure produced cautious optimism from King.
""I'm just concentrating on getting my supporters out to the polls tomorrow,"" King said.
King, a 2004 UW-Madison graduate, is a member of the Housing Committee, as well as the Joint Southeast Campus Area Committee, the Public Safety Review Board and the State Street Design Project Oversight Committee, among others.
Reluctant to be defined by a single issue, King nevertheless said it is likely most associate him with Madison's minimum-wage increase law and as an advocate for affordable housing.
""I think tenants' rights' is huge; I worked really hard on tenants' rights for two years, even before I was elected,"" King said.
Though he feels Madison's Halloween tradition is in need of reform, King applauded the efforts of ASM and emphasized UW-Madison's assistance was necessary for the safety of holiday revelers.
""We need [UW-Madison's] involvement so we can bring a large-scale, free entertainment event to draw people from State Street,"" King said.
Kamia Lounge owner and operator Kami Eshraghi considered both public safety and tenant issues to be central to the election, though he deemed the current rental policies exclusionary and believed they were responsible for rising housing prices.
""I would eliminate the artificial barriers that have created a gold-rush mentality-the perception that you have to rent in December,"" Eshraghi said.
Monday failed to offer similar last-second surprises in District 13, where Sarah King, Isadore Knox, Jr., William Kuehn and Duane Steinhauer will be vying for the top two spots in the primary election.
