Waite Quits Race, Conceding Congressional Seat to Bono

PALM SPRINGS —  After failing to muster much financial support for his congressional campaign against Rep. Mary Bono, the man who played Pa on TV’s “The Waltons” has bowed out of the race.

Democrat Ralph Waite was unable to build support for his campaign despite weeks of effort. Fellow Democrats in Congress, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and other political organizations are focusing their attention on more competitive races, his campaign said.

“Mr. Waite has decided not to pursue a losing cause,” Waite’s spokesman, Greg Pettis, said in a statement late Friday.

“He does not think it is fair to ask of himself, his family and his hundreds of hard-working supporters to spend countless hours working on a campaign with no chance of success.”

Bono said that she appreciates “that he made it public so I can go ahead and concentrate on my official duties, both in Washington and in the district.”

Waite, 70, had planned to run against Bono in the November election, when voters will pick their representative for the next two years.

He lost to Bono in an April special election to fill the vacancy created by the death of her husband, Sonny Bono, in a skiing accident. She received 64% of the vote to Waite’s 29%.

Waite, who is best known for his role in the 1970s TV series “The Waltons,” got another measure of his chances against Bono in the June blanket primary, in which voters could vote for candidates of any party. She got 57% of the vote and he got 30%.

Waite’s name still will appear on the ballot.

The district runs from Moreno Valley east to Blythe and includes the San Gorgonio Pass, Coachella Valley, Hemet, Sun City, Idyllwild, Nuevo, Winchester, most of Perris and part of Temecula.