Malory Shaughnessy, elected to chair the Westbrook Democratic Committee during a Sept. 6 caucus, has stepped down.

Shaughnessy, who is the wife of Westbrook mayoral candidate Michael Shaughnessy, said this week she does not want there to be any appearance of favoritism during the run-up to Election Day on Nov. 8.

Posting on social media Monday, including on the Democratic committee’s Facebook page, Shaughnessy said she stepped down last week.

“I am stepping down because of my relationship with one of the nominated candidates as I do not want there to be any appearance of the party doing anything untoward in these last weeks of the campaigns,” she said.

Vice Chairman David Morse will take over as chairman. He was also voted in during the recent caucus. State Rep. Drew Gattine and City Council President Brendan Rielly served as chairman and vice chairman, respectively, until the end of the Sept. 6 caucus.

Michael Shaughnessy beat out fellow Democrat Mike Sanphy as the party’s nominee for mayor, which has since caused a split in the party. A week later, Sanphy submitted nomination papers to run. Since the caucus, questions have been raised over how the caucus was conducted.

In the weeks following, the committee has also come under criticism for its planned print advertisements featuring the party’s nominees for November, including Michael Shaughnessy, Ann Peoples for an at-large City Council seat and Victor Chau for Ward 2 Councilor.

Lynda Adams, running unopposed for Ward 5, told the American Journal last week that she has opted out of the ads because they are not including Democrats Sanphy or Veronica Bates, who is also running for Ward 2.

Malory Shaughnessy said city party committees routinely pay for advertisements for the candidates chosen by caucus or primaries.

“I would stress that there has been no favoritism or anything out of the ordinary in what we have been doing as a Democratic city committee in supporting our candidates in the general election that were nominated through caucus and primary. That is what political party city committees do,” she said.

She said because Westbrook has a hybrid system of party caucus and petition to run for office, “unfortunately the general election can in some ways look a little like a hybrid primary.”

Shaughnessy said she wanted to be chairman to help the party become stronger, with goals of holding educational workshops and community building.

“I will continue to do that outside of the committee. I just do not want my relationship to be grist for the rumor mill. I do not want to see our Democratic city committee damaged,” she said.