Businessman Jim Mayer has sent an email to supporters announcing his withdrawal from the upcoming mayor’s race. He is giving up his long-shot bid, he writes, to focus his energy on helping LSU, the Pennington Biomedical Research Center and the medical school survive “devastating” budget cuts. Mayer does not explain in his email how he intends to accomplish his new goal. The decision, which comes less than a week after Republican John Conroy left the race, reduces the field to three announced candidates: incumbent Kip Holden, term-limited Metro Council member Mike Walker and business owner Gordon Mese. Qualifying for candidates does not begin until Aug. 15, but it increasingly appears the race will be a two-person showdown between Holden and Walker. —JR Ball
News Alert: Mayer quits mayor’s race; field now three
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