Pai’s camp announces suspension of congressional campaign, then reverses course

One of four Democratic candidates vying for Rep. Michelle Steel’s seat in Congress appeared to call it quits Thursday morning but reversed course by the end of the day.

In a statement released by his campaign Thursday morning, attorney Aditya Pai said he would be suspending his bid because of what he says is “a lack of joy.”

Pai, 31, said he was running because he felt the government needed young leaders focused on a brighter future. But, in the morning statement sent out by a person Pai described in a subsequent message as a “now former aide,” the attorney stated he wasn’t enjoying the campaign trail, although the campaign was “going well.”

“We have a service message that resonates here in a purple district. We’re raising the money to be competitive. But my heart is not quite in it,” Pai stated in the announcement suspending his campaign. “I love the subject matter dearly: politics, law, policy, government. I love helping people. But at least at this moment, I don’t enjoy the life of a politician. And were I fortunate enough to be elected, I am now certain, I would be unhappy in Congress.

“I didn’t know that four months ago. I know that now.”

But, in a subsequent email message sent out late Thursday afternoon, Pai said the letter suspending his run was sent erroneously and that he still intends to continue running for the seat.

“I wrote that letter as an emotional processing exercise after an exhausting glimpse into the political machine. I sent it to some mentors and staff for perspective before getting back to work; it was never supposed to be shared. Now that it was, I see a silver lining in your seeing it,” Pai said. “Despite the emotional weight of candidacy, my call to service — not politics — far outweighs it.”

Pai first announced his bid for the seat in April. He was the third Democratic candidate to throw his hat into the ring, alongside Garden Grove Councilwoman Kim Bernice Nguyen and Cheyenne Hunt, an activist and attorney with Public Citizen, who announced they would be gunning for the district that includes Garden Grove, Westminster, Cerritos, Fountain Valley, Buena Park, Fullerton, Placentia and Brea.

A fourth democratic candidate running for the district is Jimmy Pham, who unsuccessfully ran for a seat on the Westminster City Council.

According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission in late June, Steel is currently leading in fundraising with roughly $2.2 million reported in total receipts. The Democratic candidate who has received the most donations to date, $170,557, is Hunt, who if elected would be the first Gen-Z woman in Congress. Hunt is then followed by Nguyen with $151,239; Pai, with $139,060 and Pham, with $13,485.