Logan businessman Kenny Cox has pulled out of the upcoming election due to a conflict of interest.

Cox, who also serves on the West Virginia State Lottery Retail Advisory Board, said since the state disburses funds to Logan County, he believes it would have been a conflict of interest for him to serve on the Logan City Council.

“I had to do it and the decision was 100 percent mine,” Cox said this morning. “Having a state position, it would be a conflict of interest. I don’t want to cause any problems for the other people in the campaign.”

Cox, who has never ran for office before signing to run recently, said he believes dropping out of the election is the right thing to do.

“I really would have liked to have served on the council,” Cox said. “I’ve been in this building for 37 years and I figured anything I could do to help the city was what I wanted to do. I thought I could do some good. But, the state disburses funds to the counties and I do feel like that would have been a conflict of interests for me to be serving on that board and the council. I just feel like it’s not the right time to run for office.”

Cox said he officially dropped out of the election on Friday.

“This was a decision I made on my own and because I felt like it was the right thing to do,” Cox said.

Cox is the owner of Logan Wholesale in downtown Logan. He signed to run for election with incumbent Mayor Claude Ellis and incumbent council members Tom Fink, Serafino Nolletti and Greg Glick.

Logan Councilwoman Sharon Hopkins has signed up to run against Mayor Ellis.