The Democratic candidate running against Rep. Michelle Steel (R-CA) accidentally sent out an email ending his campaign.

Aditya Pai announced his campaign in March, two months after Steel assumed office, taking Rep. Katie Porter's (D-CA) old seat. An email sent Thursday, apparently sent in error, revealed that Pai was not enjoying his campaign in the 45th congressional district, which is made up of Orange and Los Angeles counties. The message said his "heart is not quite in it" despite claiming the campaign was "going well." The subject line was: "I am suspending my campaign today. Thank you for your support."

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"Life is short. I believe one should enjoy their work. For the past four months, I have not enjoyed mine," the email read. "My pursuit of office ends today."

The congressional hopeful sent another email about eight hours later taking back the first message.

"I wrote that letter as an emotional processing exercise after an exhausting glimpse into the political machine. I sent it to some mentors and staff for perspective before getting back to work; it was never supposed to be shared," Pai wrote. "Now that it was, I see a silver lining in your seeing it. You should know the thought of calling it quits has occurred to me. Running is hard and sometimes painful: 'an MRI for the soul.'"

This is the first time Pai has run a congressional campaign. The 45th district was previously represented by a Democratic representative but became an open seat when Porter decided to run for Sen. Dianne Feinstein's (D-CA) seat instead. Steel previously beat incumbent Democrat Harley Rouda for the 48th district in California.

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"Rest assured: I am here to run, win, and serve you to the absolute best of my ability," Pai wrote.

Pai is competing against three other Democrats for Steel's seat. There is one additional Republican candidate running against the incumbent.