“With the select committee’s ruling that we did not meet the burden of proof to overturn the election results in HD-48, I have decided the best course of action is to withdraw my election contest. I owe a tremendous debt of gratitude to all my supporters who worked hard on a campaign that was ultimately decided by the narrowest of margins. Their prayers and support have made this entire experience worthwhile even if the end result is not what we sought. I would also like to thank Master Hartnett and the Committee for their hard work on this issue. And I want to wish Donna Howard well as she continues to represent District 48, which is a special place to live, work and raise a family.” * * * * Before this was resolved, a lot of people were saying that partisanship would prevail over proper interpretation of the law. It is a tribute to Will Hartnett, Todd Hunter, the committee, and the House that it did not do so. Some of the individual cases were quite close, and no doubt Neil and his counsel, former member Joe Nixon, believe that they could, and maybe should, have been resolved differently. That said, everyone familiar with the race knows that if Neil had put forth a fraction of the effort into his race that he put into the election contest, he would have won the race going away on election day.