Mayoral candidate Abdel endorses Mitchell in runoff

 David Abdel, who finished third in last week’s mayoral election, announced today he is supporting incumbent Travis Mitchell in next month’s runoff, but stopped short of encouraging all those who voted for him to support the mayor’s re-election bid.

Mitchell and former council member Linda Tenorio, who finished first by only 36 votes out of 15,416 cast, will face off in the Dec. 8 runoff. Abdel collected 15.64 percent of the total vote in the four-person race.

“Based the interactions I’ve personally had (or in some instances didn’t have) during this campaign with each of the candidates, I’m more inclined to believe in the leadership and management capabilities of Travis Mitchell,” Abdel said in a statement posted today on a social media site. “Based on the information available from the two candidates throughout the campaign, I’m more inclined to support the plan/vision that Travis Mitchell provides.”

Abdel said his decision was also based on what he called a “kind of back room handshake deal” among others involved in the election designed to undermine Mitchell’s candidacy that “rubbed me the wrong way.”

“Right after the campaign I was reached out to, along with the other candidates (not Mitchell) and were asked if we would like to coalesce our efforts to make sure Travis Mitchell didn’t win,” Abdel said. “I rejected the offer respectfully because that kind of back room handshake deal seemed counter to the idea of transparency and fairness I believe our political climate is missing. I don’t believe in hanging up on a candidates, or partnering to take someone out. I believe each candidate should voice their information and allow and free and fair electorate to make educated decisions. It rubbed me the wrong way.”

Along those same lines, Abdel said his decision to endorse Mitchell is “my opinion … one solitary opinion” and encouraged the 2,411 persons who voted for him in last week’s General Election to vote their conscience in next month’s runoff.

“I’m not encouraging anyone to vote based on my opinion,” he said. “I don’t think it’s my place to say ‘my supporters should…’ in regard to their upcoming vote. I’ll continue, as I have all along, to encourage each individual person to look at the options, do their research and vote their conscience.”