The wife of an Arizona politician Wil Cardon says he committed suicide. He was 46.

Cardon of Mesa, Arizona committed suicide according to a statement from his wife, Nicole Cardon. He is survived by the couple’s five children.

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The Republican businessman unsuccessfully ran against now Senator Jeff Flake in the primary in 2012. Cardon also lost a bid for Arizona Secretary of State in 2014.

Flake in a Twitter tribute called Cardon a friend who called to check on him after a Washington baseball game shooting left a congressman wounded. Cardon’s family said the man with a smile “as wide as Arizona” suffered from depression, a disease that he battled with “openness and honesty.” source

Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends at this difficult time.