With Scandalous Divorce Details Looming, Ex-Wife Endorses OKC Mayoral Candidate

Mayoral candidate Ed Shadid's ex-wife endorses him for mayor.

Shadid joined his ex-wife Dina Hammom in front of a room full of supporters at his campaign headquarters downtown. The former couple is preparing for a possible unsealing of their 2004 divorce files, which are expected to reveal a past that includes cocaine, LSD, and domestic violence.

Shadid told supporters Thursday evening he will not attend Friday's proceedings related to the unsealing of his divorce files. He says those records have been sealed to protect his children. Shadid admits, although it will be painful if the records are made public, he hopes some good will come from the discussion.

"Today I am asking the people of Oklahoma City for your forgiveness, just as I have asked God for the same," said Shadid. "My relationship with Dina today is an example of the gifts of recovery."

Shadid spoke briefly, then turned the podium over to his former wife.

"My marriage and divorce was a painful period," said Hammom. "My former husband, Dr. Ed. Shadid is not the same person, with almost a decade of recovery. God has blessed this family."

Hammom also says her ex-husband is the best candidate for Oklahoma City mayor.

Supporters admire Hammom's courage.

"She's willing to stand up there and say what a good man he is, that he has atoned for whatever it is he did," said Shadid supporter Judy Kelley. "If addiction is an illness, it's a private thing."

According to the Oklahoma Gazette, sealed divorce records would reveal Shadid "used cocaine in 2000, and again in 2004." The mayoral candidate also admits he threw a chair against a wall, kicked a hole in a wall, and broke a lamp during a heated argument with his ex-wife.

Other published reports say Shadid has admitted he was "incapacitated by hallucinogenic drugs" as a teenager.

Despite the admissions, supporters understand.

"I hurt for them right now because obviously, in that period of time, there was some things that all of us probably go through in life," supporter George Young said.

Shadid has gone through stints at two rehabilitation centers and says he is sober. A judge is expected to make a decision Friday about whether to unseal Shadid's divorce records.