Alexandria City Councilwoman Alicia Hughes told Patch Wednesday evening that she will not protest a decision by Voter Registrar Tom Parkins that prevented her from filing for School Board candidacy.

“There’s not going to be a challenge,” said Hughes, adding that her energy needs to be focused on her family after her father was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Hughes, already a Republican nominee for re-election to council this year, was turned away from the city’s Voter Registration and Elections Office just after the 7 p.m. Tuesday deadline for citizens to file for candidacy for School Board.

She knocked on the locked door of the registrar’s office but was not allowed to file any paperwork by Parkins, who said the time was 7:01 p.m.

Hughes held her phone up and said, “Mine says 7 p.m.”

Parkins responded: “Even 7 p.m. is too late.”

Hughes then left the scene, got into her car and drove off.

Hughes told Patch late Tuesday evening she had sought the advice of counsel and was considering challenging Parkins’ decision.

In a statement, she said she had collected signatures to run for school board in District C. She said she wanted to preserve “the option to campaign district rather than citywide” while she awaited more information about her father’s illness.

Hughes said Wednesday she knows a citizen cannot run for two offices on one ballot. She said the campaign season ramps up in September, at which time more information would be available about her father’s illness and she would have made a decision about which office to run for.