With only a week before the April 2 municipal election, District 3 City Council candidate Bob Kinsey announced Monday he’s dropping out of the race and endorsing incumbent Brandy Williams.

Kinsey said he heard of polling that showed Williams and another candidate, Keith King, “neck-and-neck” in the race and that he’s not expecting a groundswell of support.

“I wanted to give voters a chance to have somebody who advocated for what I’m advocating,” he said. “But my campaign hasn’t exactly caught fire – let me put it that way – so better Brandy by a long shot than the other candidates, in my opinion.”

Williams said she thanked Kinsey for his willingness to serve the community.

“Bob brought a different perspective to the race, and I wish him well,” she said.

Kinsey is the third council candidate on the ballot who has urged voters to support someone else.

Defense contractor Bill Murray asked voters to support pilot Joel Miller in the District 2 race, and former Councilman Tom Gallagher threw his support behind former state Rep. Keith King, also in the District 3 race.

While Kinsey and Gallagher will still appear on the ballot, the District 3 race is now a three-way contest between Williams, King and former county Commissioner Jim Bensberg.

Daniel Cole, King’s campaign manager, said voters should be especially aware of the source of Williams’ endorsement.

“It’s important to point out that over the last two years, Brandy Williams has changed from a candidate with strong conservative support to a candidate with support from a radical element of the Green Party,” he said.

Kinsey, who formally announced his withdrawl from the race at a candidate forum at Colorado College, said he got into the race primarily “to oppose hydraulic fracturing within the city or any place else on the planet.” He also said he was the only candidate who talked about to global warming. While he’s glad he brought attention to those issues, he said he realized that his campaign wasn’t generating a “tidal wave of support and interest.”

“I believe that Brandy is moving in the right direction, and I think she’s the winnable candidate,” he said.

Kinsey said Williams “represents at least a modicum of the policies” that he supports, including community solar gardens and her recent vote against regulations oil and gas regulations.

In a statement, Kinsey said Williams has assured him that she shares a passion for renewable energy and protecting the local environment.

“For those who have already voted for me, I am deeply honored. It was a privilege to be your voice in this campaign,” he said in the statement.

“But if you were going to vote for me and have not sent in your ballot yet, I am urging you to vote for Brandy Williams instead. I am realistic enough to understand that the likelihood of my success is less than hers, and whoever wins District 3, may do so by a small margin,” he said.