Vos’ Dem Challenger Drops Out After Family Gets Harassed, Vos Gets Dog Poop In The Mail

Robert Prailes’ announcement comes one week after entering race. Vos says both sides are guilty because someone mailed him dog poop.

A week after announcing his bid to run against Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, Robert Prailes abruptly called off his campaign Friday citing “some really ugly and personal attacks.”

“Unfortunately, my family has also been the target of some really ugly and personal attacks,” wrote Prailes on his Facebook campaign page. “I quickly realized that I am not the type of person who thrives in this type of situation, and that I had not adequately prepared my family for the consequences that would arise from my candidacy. 

Prailes added he started to feel like “we were watching everything that we care about as a family and a community slip away, and I wasn’t going to be able to be myself on the campaign trail knowing that my family’s health and happiness could be jeopardized.”

Prailes thanked his supporters and promised a full refund to those who had financially supported his campaign. An attempt to reach Prailes for additional information was not immediately returned Friday.

To his supporters he said, “I think the overwhelming positive response of last week shows that there is a thirst for civility and service before self-interest that has been sorely lacking from our politics.”

Vos, a Rochester Republican, was first elected in 2005 and has been speaker since 2013. He did not address Prailes dropping out on Friday, but made a post on his personal Facebook in which he said someone sent him dog poop in the mail on Thursday.

“We can respectfully disagree,” Vos wrote. “We can argue. We can even yell on occasion. But if yelling, swearing, accusing others is your go-to response, you need to seriously think about your anger and how to resolve that issue. Can we just get back to debating the issues civilly and stop the name calling?”