Heroin overdose capsizes US House campaign in Arizona

An Arizona Republican seeking a U.S. House of Representatives seat suspended his campaign Monday after overdosing on heroin last week, The Arizona Republic reports.

A family member found Chris Taylor, a U.S. Army veteran and Safford City Council member, unresponsive in his home Wednesday, The Gila Herald reported.

Police administered Narcan to revive him, and found evidence of intravenous drug use at a firehouse where Taylor serves as a volunteer, according to the publication.

“I have to figure out where I went wrong,” Taylor said in a statement announcing he had suspended his congressional campaign, NBC News reported.

Taylor had been one of three Republicans seeking to challenge Rep. Tom O’Halleran, a Democrat, in Arizona’s 1st Congressional District, The Arizona Republic reported.

A married father of two who served two tours in Afghanistan, Taylor had been open about his past struggles with opioid addiction, NBC News reported. In 2014, he founded Desert Eagle Addiction Recovery to help fellow veterans facing substance abuse issues.

“The only thing I can do is face this head on in complete humility and put one foot in front of the other so that I can get the help needed to be the father and husband that my family deserves,” Taylor said, The Arizona Daily Sun reported.

This story was originally published February 25, 2020 at 11:07 AM with the headline "Heroin overdose capsizes US House campaign in Arizona."