Lydia Robles, city activist, who picked up petitions and was eying the city’s highest office, has announced Thursday afternoon that she will withdraw her candidacy for mayor and back Jose Torres, the city’s former two-term mayor.

“We have to go by the numbers. I don’t have the numbers to win the election,” said Robles, who had a paltry 5-percent of the voters willing to cast a ballot for her, according to a poll completed by this paper.

Robles was not only short on support, but she lacked money to fund a successful campaign. She only had about $600 in her campaign account. “The lack of funding also played a role,” said Robles.

Robles said she spoke to some of the candidates, and Torres had similar improvement ideas for the city as her. “He explained to me some of the things that I want to see come into fruition are part of his goal too,” said Robles, who is also Puerto Rican like Torres.

She stated that she is not endorsing Torres out of ethnic kinship, but more because of his ideas and much of it coinciding with her own. When asked whether she is endorsing him because he shares the same ethnicity, Robles responded, “Absolutely not, I have a family that is diverse. We have people from all ethnicities literally in my family. That has absolutely nothing to do with it.”

When asked about the recent controversies involving the former mayor, including the recent $74,000 check he received during his last week in office, Robles said there are some flaws in the system that requires correction. She said, “Obviously there is a flaw within our administration.” Robles cited a resolution that was passed last week to bar elected officials from claiming vacation and sick days.

“This was not an easy decision for me to make,” said Robles. “If I really didn’t believe he was the best choice for Paterson, I’d keep my mouth shut.”