Scott Wagner, State Senate candidate for Pennsylvania’s 28th District, has announced that he is dropping out of the special election that will take place for Rep. Mike Waugh’s (R-York) seat.

The special election was triggered by Waugh’s early resignation to take a job with the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture.

“The reason I am running for public office is to be a voice for the people of the 28th District. Due to the number of citizens who have reached out to me and expressed outrage over the orchestrated, unfair special election, I have decided to remove my name from consideration for the Republican nomination,” Wagner said.

With Wagner removing himself from the race, Rep. Ron Miller (R-York) is expected to win the special election for Waugh’s seat, as he recently announced his intent to run.

In a special election, the Republican committee members of York County who live within the 28th District will get the opportunity to select their nominee for the seat, with Miller appearing to be the favorite. Miller said that he would be a candidate for both the special and primary election.

Miller has served Pennsylvania’s 93rd District since 1998.

Waugh announced that he would not be running for a fourth term back in August, but had intended to wait until the end of his term to retire. His resignation came after speculation that he was lobbying for the position of Executive Director of the PA Farm Show Complex.

Wagner, a conservative businessman, had declared his candidacy in September. Throughout his campaign Wagner was able to pull in a great deal of money. In the fourth fiscal quarter, he raised $267,730 from around 179 donors, $10,000 of that coming from his own pocket. Wagner is independently wealthy and is known to be a major donor to conservative candidates and causes.

Of course, despite dropping out of the special election, Wagner can still run in the primary election. He would be facing an incumbent this time, most likely Miller, instead of running for an open seat.

“The citizens of the 28th District deserve a fair and open election and that is clearly not what they are getting with this blatant attempt to deny the voters a choice,” Wagner said. “I look forward to the primary election on May 20 when the Republican voters in the 28th District can decide for themselves who they want to elect to compete in the general election.”

This special election has caused some York County conservatives to cry foul in the form of a “back room deal” claim, saying that the whole thing was put together by Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi (R-Chester).