Wilhoite Suspends His Campaign for Mayor of Menifee

Ken Wilhoite, who announced in April that he would run for Mayor of Menifee this fall, said today he has suspended his campaign.

"I really started too late," said Wilhoite, a financial advisor and five-year resident of Menifee. "I had trouble building an organization and raising the money I would need to run a successful campaign. I can't see spending the money for filing and other expenses if I don't have sufficient funding."

That leaves no announced candidates to oppose incumbent Scott Mann in the November election. The application filing period for candidates is in August.

When he announced his candidacy in April, Wilhoite said he believed a more organized approach to the city's challenges was necessary in order to make the city council run more efficiently. He has been outspoken at many council meetings, citing concerns about financial and ordinance issues.

"My position of not raising money from developers ended up hurting me," he said. "I just couldn't raise the funds I needed. I decided it was better to stop now than carry on with something I didn't have the funding to complete.

"Besides, Scott is fully funded and he has the advantage of being the incumbent."

Wilhoite said he might consider running for office at some future date.