Former Utah County commissioner David J. Gardner is no longer seeking to reclaim his seat in this year's election.

Gardner had filed to run as an independent candidate for the seat held by Steve White.

However, Gardner did not submit the 300 petition signatures needed for candidates without party affiliation. Election workers didn't catch the oversight in time for the March 17 deadline, so he was given until 4 p.m. Wednesday to gather them.

He decided not to pursue that course, however, and turned in a withdrawal letter to the Utah County elections office Tuesday.

On Wednesday morning his status was listed as "withdrawn" on the candidate list maintained by the elections office. His name was removed later in the day. Several attempts to contact Gardner on Wednesday were not successful.

Gardner fell out of favor with the county Republican Party after drunken driving arrests in 1999 and 2001, but ignored calls for him to step down from his office before his term ended in 2002. He did not seek re-election that year. He was also convicted of disorderly conduct in connection with a 2000 incident in which he roughed up a 9-year-old boy.

White now faces two Republican challengers for his seat, Bill Ellis of Provo and Shirrel Robinson Young of Thistle. Joseph Brierley, a Democrat from Spanish Fork, is also running.

In the other commission seat on the ballot, incumbent Jerry Grover will be defending his seat against two fellow Republicans, Howard Stone of Provo and Gary Anderson of Springville.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page B10.