 A candidate for Brainerd City Council has withdrawn from the race for the at-large seat citing extreme defamation and bullying online. Chris Matheson announced Friday that he will not continue his run against Council member Sue Hilgart for the city council seat. He cited defamation, bullying and threats made against him as the reasons why he's leaving the race. Matheson is living with bipolar 2 disorder and said he was attacked and targeted for his mental illness. That was kind of my final line, I thought this is just, I have to look out for my family, my mental well-being as well and what's the healthiest decision for me right now and that happened to be pulling out of the election at least this time. Matheson said he has received an outpouring of support following his decision and hopes that by telling his story he can prevent this from happening again. He said he would consider running for the council again in the future. I'm going to go back to school here in the next semester and finish my associate degree and I would like to get into the mental health field starting as a peer support specialist so I would still like to make a change, have an impact and I think that would be a good way to do it. Will that lead to a political future, I don't know but I'm open minded to it. Matheson's name will still be listed on the ballot as early voting has already started in Minnesota. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.