Embattled 48th Ward aldermanic candidate Morry Matson announced on July 17 that he was withdrawing from the 2019 election, citing health reasons.
"Mr. Matson suffered a brain seizure in May and will be undergoing brain surgery next week for a lesion," said a statement released to media outlets.
The withdrawal comes just days after Matson made national news when, in his capacity as a manager at an Edgewater CVS, he phoned police when a Black woman attempted to purchase an item with a coupon he did not recognize. Matson and another employee were fired over the matter.
Matson had also been attempting to jumpstart the local chapter of the Log Cabin Republicans and has also apparently stepped down from his role there, according to a separate, unsigned July 17 statement also sent to media outlets July 17. The statement, ostensibly from members of the chapter, decried Matson's behavior, but downplayed the implications of racial discrimination that arose from the episode.
"We do not endorse or support the behavior displayed recently in the news regarding our former President M. Mattson, who has stepped down from his post of leadership with Log Cabin Illinois," said the statement. "We remain committed to promoting fiscally conservative and also pro-LGBT ( and other inclusivity ) stances for all individuals. As an organization with a pro-business stance, we believe excellent customer service is a goal to be strived for and leads to business product and service growth. As such, our official stance would be to have attempted to give the benefit of the doubt to every customer whenever possible."