Former legislator Dottie Sims withdraws from rematch in 19th State House district

Democratic candidate Dottie Sims on Friday ended her bid for a third chance to represent the 19th state House District.

Sims told Pure Politics she was dropping out of the race for personal reasons and was unable to handle keep up with the demands of the campaign.

Sims was running in a rematch against freshman Republican Rep. Michael Meredith of Brownsville, who unseated Sims in 2010.

The 19th State House seat covers Edmonson, Hart and Larue counties. Sims previously represented the district from 1997-2004. After losing in 2004, she won back the seat and held it from 2007-2011.

Meredith ran against Sims in the 2010 election as the youngest legislative candidate that year.

During the May Democratic primary, Sims defeated Phinis Vernon Hundley, a union leader and long time Democratic activist.

The rematch between Meredith and Sims was expected to be somewhat competitive, but Meredith told Pure Politics last month that he was further along in fundraising at this point in the race than he was in 2010.