Colorado State House District 54 candidate Jared Wright apologized to voters Tuesday night for controversy surrounding his campaign but defied calls to drop from the race.

At a forum that drew about a dozen voters in Fruita, Wright sought to answer any questions his constituents had.

The situation began with a publicized internal investigation at the Fruita Police Department and then the report of his 2011 bankruptcy. It ended last Friday with Mesa County Republican Party leaders describing these developments as both a shock and surprise.

With his wife and child at his side, Wright apologized Tuesday for not being more forthcoming to voters but stopped short of removing himself from the race for District 54.

"I don't believe anything that's occurred would make me a bad representative of the people in this district," Wright said.

The candidate says he had planned to tell voters about last year's bankruptcy but hadn't divulged the details because he was embarrassed of it. Wright also apologized at the meeting to local Republican party leaders for catching them off guard.

On Friday, the party's co-chair, Ruth Ehlers, said this information should have been made available to voters before the caucuses began this year and that Wright has a lot of questions to answer about his character.

Many in the local party are continuing to call for Wright to drop from the race.