Candidate pulls out of state Senate primary

What had been a three-way Senate District 3 Republican primary race now is a two-man show, with Jayson Peters announcing that he is withdrawing his candidacy.

“I entered the Republican primary race against incumbent Bruce Tutvedt for Senate because I believe [the district] deserved a more conservative choice,” Peters said in a press release.

“Unfortunately, this Senate race attracted two conservative challengers to incumbent Sen. Tutvedt. I am reluctantly withdrawing my name from the race as a three-way primary will only split the votes.”

That leaves Rollan Roberts II as the sole Republican challenger to Tutvedt in the June 5 primary election. The winner will go on to face Democrat Shannon Hanson in the November general election.

Peters said he will not endorse either Tutvedt or Roberts.

“With my decision, I remain committed to serving the public, and thank all my supporters in this campaign,” he said. “I will be preserving my ‘political capital’ for a future race.”