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November 25, 2009 (San Diego) – Dave Roberts is dropping out of the Democratic primary in the 50th Congressional District. In a letter sent to supporters this evening, the Solana Beach Councilmember issued the following statement:
This past Monday was one of the happiest, yet saddest days of my life. As many of you know, Wally and I have been foster parents for abused children for well over a decade. Years ago, we adopted our first two sons from the foster care system and we are in the process of adopting our third son. About five weeks ago, we were unexpectedly contacted by the San Diego County Department of Children's Services and offered two additional foster children, ages two and one year old, to bring into our home. These children are the half brother and sister of our youngest son. On Monday, we learned that these two young, foster children may become available for adoption and a permanent part of our family. In a short time, our family has almost doubled in size and we have come to love these two children, and they have quickly become an integral part of our family.
Keeping families together is an important value to us and we consider it important that we rescue these two children from their prior environment into one that offers love, a chance for a good education and healthy lifestyle. With our young children so new to our family, my campaign absences are unfair to them and Wally. While we could have hired people to help us, spending time with our newly expanded family cannot be done by anyone else. Parents all over the world are postponing their dreams for their children. I am in good company.
Therefore, after much deliberation and discussion with my family and advisers, I have decided to suspend my campaign for Congress. This decision was made after much thought and many sleepless nights. I thank each one of you who worked so hard to help launch and grow our campaign, particularly our oldest son Robert who accompanied me to many of our campaign events. I thank my advisers, supporters and other volunteers who have been with me from the start, opened their homes for events, and for Wally who shared my dream.
I have decided to refund contributions to all my supporters. Going forward, I will continue to work to build a strong Democratic Party in the 50th Congressional District and use my unique talents to forge bipartisan solutions whenever possible. I will continue to do this in my role as a Solana Beach councilmember and my other local, state and national positions. My hat goes off to both Francine Busby and Tracy Emblem who are still in this race. Once the voters decide next June who our Democratic nominee will be for 2010, I will work with them to defeat Brian Bilbray.
The mission goes on and our work to create jobs, reform healthcare and protect our environment does not cease with the suspension of my campaign for Congress. I will be working tirelessly with each of you to achieve our vision. My best wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving! We truly have much to rejoice in my family with our children this year - it will definitely be a table full of lots of love and laughter.
With my sincere best wishes and appreciation,
David W. “Dave” Roberts
Editor's note: Francine Busby had this reaction to news of Roberts dropping out of the race: "I am sure that this was a difficult decision. I admire Dave's selfless commitment to put the needs of his growing family first. I wish him and Wally all the best."
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