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Arizona Congressional candidate suspends campaign after drug relapse, overdose

Chris Taylor Arizona
Posted at 11:00 AM, Feb 25, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-25 19:11:45-05

TUCSON, Ariz. — A Congressional candidate in Arizona is suspending his campaign Tuesday after he says he suffered a drug relapse and overdose.

Chris Taylor, a city councilman in Safford, was running for the Republican nomination to challenge Democrat Tom O'Halleran in Arizona's 1st Congressional District this November. He had been open about his struggles with opioid addiction after returning from two tours with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan, discussing them in his introductory ad for his campaign:

In a statement to KGUN 9 Tuesday, he said he would be seeking treatment after a recent relapse and overdose.

"I wish to sincerely apologize to the amazing people who have supported me," he said. "I don’t know what went wrong. I recently relapsed after having so many solid years in sobriety. "

According to his campaign website, Taylor founded a nonprofit for veterans suffering from addiction in 2014.

Arizona's 1st Congressional District covers much of northern Arizona and stretches all the way down the state's eastern border. It includes parts of northern metro Tucson, including Oro Valley and Marana, as well as some Phoenix suburbs.

Several other Republicans are still competing for the nomination in AZ-01.