The western Iowa supervisor candidate who asked voters to cast ballots for someone else has changed his mind and now wants all the votes he can get.

The Associated Press says Brian Ashley, of Correctionville, won the June 5 Republican primary for Woodbury County’s District 5 supervisor. He’d dropped out of the race in May, citing ailments. But 53 percent of the voters cast their ballots for him anyway.

The 72-year-old Ashley said Wednesday that his health has improved and his family has urged him to take on the incumbent Democrat, Larry Clausen, this fall.

Clausen says he’s happy that Ashley’s health is good enough to run for the four-year term.