A candidate who qualified to run for Ward 4 city councilman has dropped out.
Robert S. Johnson IV submitted a letter to the city registrar’s office Tuesday withdrawing from the race less than two weeks after he entered it.
Johnson, 43, is a Columbus native and U.S. Navy veteran who moved back to the city from California in 2020. He said he is a freelance landscaper and home renovator and owns the property on Military Road that houses Schoolhouse Pops, where his wife and children sell lemonade and popsicles.
“I wasn’t ready,” Johnson told The Dispatch when asked about dropping out. “There are things I need to do, as far as my resume, before I need to be running for city council.”
That leaves one candidate in the race in Democrat Lavonne Harris, who served 19 years as president for the Lowndes County NAACP chapter before announcing plans this month to step down from that position.
Incumbent Pierre Beard has not yet qualified, though he has said publicly he intends to seek another term.
The deadline for qualifying is 5 p.m. Jan. 31. Party primaries are April 1, and the general election is June 3.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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