Jake Metcalfe a Candidate No More?

According to "An Alaskan Abroad" and backed up, sorta, by Progressive Alaska Jake Metcalfe has a 1:00 PM press conference scheduled where it is believed he will announce that he is leaving the race.

If it is the case, I'm surprised it took him this long.

If not, he might as well. His viability as a candidate is now nil, zero, zip, nada...

So either Ethan Berkowitz or Diane Benson will face either Don Young or Sean Parnell.

******UPDATE******

Yup, they were right:

Democrat Jake Metcalfe just quit the race for Don Young's Congressional seat.

He said the flap over anti-Ethan Berkowitz web sites was too much of a distraction.

"I want to clarify, once and for all, I did not order or ask anyone to buy the sites. I did not know until recently that anyone associated with my campaign had done so. It appears that a former campaign worker was involved in these acts, and I condemn them," Metcalfe said.

Metcalfe said his former political advisor, Bill Scannell, still denies being behind the sites. But Metcalfe said the evidence points toward Scannell's involvement.

Metcalfe said he called Berkowitz to apologize.

The focus needs to be on a Democrat beating Republican Don Young in November, Metcalfe said, although he didn't endorse a candidate.