NORTHERN CALIFORNIA – Matt Pope announced on Friday that he is suspending his campaign for the state Assembly.

Pope joined the race last year for the Fourth Assembly District, which covers all of Lake and Napa counties, most of Yolo County, and portions of Solano, Sonoma and Colusa counties.

The district's seat currently is held by Mariko Yamada, who is due to be termed out later this year.

A district representative for Sen. Noreen Evans (D-Santa Rosa) and a Napa County planning commissioner who lives in American Canyon, Pope received the endorsement of Evans as well as Yamada.

“My intention was always to bring a strong progressive voice to this campaign and I am proud of the issues that we have raised,” he said in a Friday message.

However, Pope said he found himself “having to make a careful decision.”

He continued, “Based on the realities of balancing a campaign while working full-time and maintaining other public service commitments, I find that I am simply unable to continue in this race.”

While he's suspending his Assembly campaign, Pope said he doesn't intend to pull back from public service or from championing a progressive vision for California.

“I look forward to continuing to work for the protection of our environment, economic and social justice, innovative and responsive state services, drug policy and penal system reform and good government,” he said.

Last fall, Lake County Supervisor Anthony Farrington, who had been one of the early contenders for the seat, also left the race, as Lake County News has reported.

The race now consists of Napa County Supervisor Bill Dodd, Davis Mayor Joe Krovoza and Davis City Councilman Dan Wolk.

In his early Friday message, Pope did not indicate if he would be endorsing any of the remaining candidates.

Pope's exit from the race comes days after it was announced that Wolk was receiving the state Democratic Party's endorsement in the race.

Campaign finances also may be a factor in Pope's exit.

According to the California Secretary of State's campaign finance database, the District 4 Assembly race has topped $1 million in contributions through the end of the Dec. 31 filing period.

Dodd leads in campaign contributions with $594,597, followed by Krovoza with $223,590.47, Wolk with $122,076.62 and Pope with $84,612.25, of which he loaned himself $51,000. None of the other three candidates have listed loans so far.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.