Justin Bernier of Plainville announced Friday that he will continue his campaign for the open 5th Congressional District seat.
Bernier, who qualified for the Republican primary ballot last week, had been uncertain about whether he would move forward with his campaign.
At the convention, Republican state Sen. Andrew Roraback won the nomination, Lisa Wilson-Foley of Simsbury came in second, Bernier came in third, and Mark Greenberg of Litchfield came in fourth.
Bernier, who ran for the seat in 2010 against former state Sen. Sam Caligiuri of Waterbury, hesitated to say whether he would continue his campaign.
“We’ll look at all the facts and we’ll make a decision in the near future,” Bernier said last week.
Today, he made his decision to move forward and filed his paperwork with the Secretary of the State.
“This was not a very difficult decision,” Bernier said Friday. Asked why he hesitated, he said “I wanted to talk to my family, friends, and supporters before making a decision.”
What he heard convinced him to stay in the race.
Bernier said his supporters told him they wanted to see his name on the ballot because they wanted a reliable Republican choice.
“The candidate who wins this race is going to be the one that has the best message, not the one with the most money,” Bernier said.
Wilson-Foley and Greenberg have both largely self-funded their campaigns, but Bernier said he’s not concerned.
“A good organization and a ground game is going to get our message to the voters,” he said.
In 2010, Caligiuri received 40 percent of the Republican primary vote to Bernier’s 31 percent. Greenberg received 29 percent that year even though he had to petition his way onto the ballot.