Kirsten Naito, one of the candidates for Multnomah County district attorney, announced Thursday that she is dropping out of the race.

Naito, who is an assistant attorney general with the Oregon Department of Justice, said in a press release that she was deciding to drop out because "this is simply not the right time for me to seek public office."

"Balancing the demands of parenting a toddler, a job serving the people of Oregon, and doing everything needed to raise funds, seek endorsements, and be the kind of candidate I want to be was unsustainable, and my family and our health and well-being have to take priority," Naito added.

Naito, who is the granddaughter of late Portland businessman and Naito Parkway namesake Bill Naito, had a whopping $49,000 in her campaign war chest. That includes several multi-thousand-dollar donations from relatives.

Naito's departure leaves two candidates in the Multnomah County DA race: Assistant US Attorney Ethan Knight, and Mike Schmidt, director of the Oregon Criminal Justice Commission. The Mercury interviewed both Knight and Schmidt for a recent story about cash bail reform; while Schmidt is bullish about ending the use of cash bail in Multnomah County, Knight expressed a more moderate stance on the issue.

Both Knight and Schmidt will likely take part in a candidate forum organized by Oregon DA for the People and Advancing Collective Equity on March 14.

Naito's press release pointed out that if elected, she would have been the first woman and the first LGBTQ+ person to serve as Multnomah County DA.

"I regret that the wait will continue to bring diversity and needed perspective to this office," she said.