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Florida Candidate Who Lied About College Degree Drops Out of Race

Melissa Howard campaigning in July for the Florida Legislature. She dropped out of the race on Tuesday after it was discovered that she falsely claimed she had a college degree from Miami University of Ohio.Credit...Phil Diederich/Sarasota Herald-Tribune, via Associated Press

A candidate for the Florida State House of Representatives who lied about graduating from college and then flew across the country to try to prove her false claim dropped out of the race on Tuesday, according to local news reports.

The candidate, Melissa Howard, who was running in the Republican primary for the 73rd District seat, told The Sarasota Herald-Tribune that she would withdraw. “I made a terrible error in judgement,” she said in a text message to the newspaper. “I am thankful for everyone who gave so much toward my success, and I am deeply sorry.”

Her decision comes a day after she apologized for her “mistake,” but resolved to remain in the race. “I am staying in the race and intend to win and lead by example from now on,” she told the newspaper on Monday.

But by Tuesday, she said she had “come to the realization that the right thing to do for my community is to withdraw from the race.”

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Melissa Howard, a candidate for the Florida State House of Representatives, posed with her mother and what she said was her diploma from Miami University of Ohio. The school said it had no record of her graduating.Credit...FLA News Online

Ms. Howard did not respond to requests for comment from The New York Times this week.

Her exit from the race spells the end of a local campaign that took a bizarre turn last week, when a local news outlet, FLA News, reported that she did not graduate from Miami University of Ohio, as she claimed on her campaign website. Ms. Howard flew to Ohio to try to prove the website’s reporting wrong and posted a photo on Facebook of herself with a diploma.

The diploma, though, was a fake.

“The picture of the diploma shows that Melissa Marie Fox received a Bachelor of Science in Marketing degree from Miami University on December 20, 1996,” the university’s general counsel said in a statement, using Ms. Howard’s maiden name. “We have no such record of a degree.”

Ms. Howard attended the university from 1990 to 1994 but did not graduate, according to the university.

After reports surfaced that Ms. Howard had lied, other politicians called for her to drop out of the race. She refused — until Tuesday.

The primary election is scheduled for Aug. 28.

With just two weeks to go, The Herald-Tribune reported that Ms. Howard’s name would stay on the ballot, but that signs at polling locations would notify people that a vote for Howard would not count. Her opponent in the Republican primary will now face off against a Democrat in the general election in November.

Sandra E. Garcia contributed reporting.

Follow Laura M. Holson on Twitter: @lauramholson.

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