LANSING - — Virg Bernero has dropped out of the Lansing mayor's race.
Bernero announced the decision in a Facebook post Sunday evening, writing that he had stepped into the mayor's race "guided by faith, family and love for the city of Lansing and its residents."
"I was running as a better man than the one who left office 4 years ago, but not a perfect man, and was heartened and bolstered by the support of many of you. I had hoped to be a catalyst for necessary change that would bring new growth - and maybe I have been. My wife and family have forgiven me for the mistakes of the past, but politics is less forgiving," he wrote.
The Lansing City Pulse reported in March that two women had accused Bernero of sexual harassment, though it did not name them, and a group called Michigan Deserves Better has paid for advertisements and mailers casting Bernero as "America's horniest mayor" and "Lansing's most notorious sexual harasser."
Bernero, a former state representative and state senator, served three terms as Lansing's mayor from 2006 to 2018.
Perhaps coincidentally, Bernero's announcement came moments after at-large Lansing City Councilwoman Kathie Dunbar announced her candidacy for mayor.
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