Former alder candidate Adam Walsh refuted rumors Monday he was endorsing incumbent Ald. Brenda Konkel in the upcoming District 2 race.

Konkel faces challenger Bridget Maniaci in the final election April 2.

“I consider my involvement in the election over,” Walsh said. “Those two girls can have at it.”

Although Konkel said Walsh openly supported her campaign, she said Walsh plans to run against her in the future. Endorsing her campaign will hurt Walsh’s chances in prospective campaigns, Konkel added.

Until Monday morning Walsh was listed as one of Konkel’s supporters on her campaign website.

Konkel and Walsh had been discussing an endorsement after the primary. However, at the end of the day, he was not comfortable putting his name behind a candidate, Walsh said.

“He told me to put him on the website, but this morning when the [Capital] Times wrote what they wrote, he asked to be taken off,” Konkel said.

According to Walsh there are too many differences between Konkel, Maniaci and himself. Therefore, he is unable to fully offer his support to either candidate.

Although Walsh’s name was removed from Konkel’s endorsement list, his wife’s name remains on the supporter page.

Walsh added there was a miscommunication between him and Konkel, probably at his fault.

On Feb. 17, Walsh finished third in a five-way primary, only 10 votes behind Maniaci.

Maniaci said she has spoken to the previous District 2 candidates and though she would appreciate an endorsement from any of the past contenders, she does not think Walsh’s endorsement is crucial.

“It really doesn’t affect the campaign by [Walsh] not endorsing either candidate,” Maniaci said. “I think there have been a lot of crossed lines of communication, which is really unfortunate.”

She added this is not the first incident in which Konkel’s endorsement list has not been accurate.

Dave Wallner, former District 2 alder was on Konkel’s endorsement list in January before the primary, Maniaci said. After the primary he endorced Maniaci, she said, adding the confusion was an honest “cut and paste” mistake, and Wallner is not a supporter of Konkel’s.

Former District 2 contender Sherman Hackbarth said although he will vote April 7, currently he too is unwilling to endorse neither Konkel nor Maniaci.

Hackbarth said he is openly communicating with both candidates, adding the winner of the aldermanic race will not be the contender with the most endorsements, but instead the candidate who can rally the most voters on Election Day.

“Would a personal endorsement help out?” Hackbarth asked. “Sure. But I’m not sure how much. … Any endorsement will affect them.”

According to Hackbarth, he needs to speak with both candidates about very specific issues before he considers endorsing either candidate. Additionally he said both candidates need to earn his vote.