Democrat Abby Broyles drops out of race for 5th District
FILE - Abby Broyles speaks to the media at the Colcord Hotel in Oklahoma City, Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. Democrat Broyles says she's dropping out of the race for Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District. The announcement on Thursday, March 24, 2022, follows an incident last month in which Broyles acknowledged she blacked out at a sleepover for middle-school aged girls after drinking wine and taking a sleeping aid and then vomited in a clothes hamper. (AP Photo/Garett Fisbeck, File)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Democrat Abby Broyles, who drew national attention after admitting she blacked out at a sleepover for middle-school aged girls and vomited in a clothes hamper, announced Thursday she’s dropping out of the race for Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District.
Broyles, 32, said in a statement that she is receiving treatment for anxiety and alcohol dependency following the incident at the sleepover and, later, an attempt to take her own life by drinking alcohol and taking sleeping pills.
“On the morning of March 2nd, I made the attempt to take my life, but thankfully, God had greater plans for me,” Broyles said. “I am currently undergoing mental health treatment for severe anxiety and dependency on alcohol to cope.
“For too long, I was committed to being a great political figure and representative for the people of Oklahoma rather than taking the time to work on the most important part — myself.”
An attorney and former television news reporter, Broyles was the Democratic nominee in the race for the U.S. Senate in 2020, losing to Republican U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe by 30 percentage points.
Earlier this week, another Democrat jumped into the 5th District race — Joshua Harris-Till, a former congressional candidate and past president of the Young Democrats of America.
The 5th District seat, which includes most of Oklahoma City, was seen as the most competitive district for Democrats in Oklahoma. Oklahoma City attorney Kendra Horn won the seat in a surprising upset over a three-term GOP incumbent in 2018 before Republican U.S. Rep. Stephanie Bice won the seat back for the GOP in a narrow defeat over Horn in 2020. Since then, the district was redrawn by the Republican-controlled Legislature to remove a large swathe of the heavily Democratic south side of Oklahoma City and to add parts of several rural, Republican leaning counties.
Horn announced last week she was running for Oklahoma’s soon-to-be-vacant U.S. Senate seat currently held by Republican Jim Inhofe, who plans to step down in January before his term is complete.
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