UPDATE

Bismarck (KFYR) – The Democratic U.S. House candidate in North Dakota is conceding the race two months before the election. Mark Haugen has decided to suspend his campaign.

Haugen cited the U.S. Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade as one of the reasons for his departure from the campaign. He says he received several phone calls over the weekend from the Democratic Party asking him to think about withdrawing from the race.

“When the Supreme Court decision came out, that further kind of solidified that there may be some issues here with my candidacy. I’ve been pro-life since in the 1990′s. I never hid it. I ran for the Legislature in 1996,” said Haugen.

Haugen says he would have probably split votes with Independent candidate Cara Mund, who says she plans to turn in signatures to get on the ballot tomorrow. And that’s also when Haugen plans to notify the Secretary of State’s office of his withdrawal.

Previously

Fargo. (KFGO/KVRR) — The Democratic backed candidate for North Dakota’s lone U.S. House seat is dropping out of the race, just months before the election.

Mark Haugen put out a Tweet saying, “Effective immediately, I am suspending my campaign. Thank you to all my supporters.”

Incumben Republican Rep. Kelly Armstrong thanked Haugen for throwing his hat in the ring and said a lot is going to be said about why Haugen was forced out of the race and “I’ll let the pundits give their takes.”

Former Miss America Cara Mund held her last signature collection event last week in Bismarck in an effort to get on the ballot as an independent.