Vince Chowdhury, who pleaded guilty to assault charges for slapping his teen daughter, said Thursday he's suspending his Democratic primary campaign for House District 22.

But his name is already printed on ballots for the Aug. 12 primary, so Chowdhury said, "I will just let the people decide."

"I'm just not paying attention to a lot of political events at this point in time," he said. "I'm not actively campaigning. As you know, I had some personal issues that I needed to focus on."

Chowdhury declined to say whether he'll step down from the Jefferson County school board, as fellow board members asked him to do July 8 when he pleaded guilty.

"At this point, we're just assuming that he is remaining on the board," said district spokeswoman Melissa Reeves.

"So, we're expecting to see him Aug. 21 at the first board meeting of the 2008-09 school year."

The board cannot force Chowdhury to resign, because he was convicted of a misdemeanor and not a felony, Reeves said.

Unless he voluntarily resigns, he can only be removed from office by a voter recall.

The slapping incident began when Chowdhury arrived home June 17 and honked for his wife or daughter to open the garage door.

The door eventually was opened, but Chowdhury was angry, complaining he had to sit in the driveway honking for several minutes, the girl told police.

Although the wife and girl apologized, Katherine Chowd- hury told police her husband took the daughter's apology as "mocking" him and began slapping her.

The girl said he grabbed her by the throat and choked her.

Chowdhury publicly apologized to his wife and daughter after pleading guilty.

"I should have used better judgment," he said outside court.

"My intention was to discipline my child, who I felt was being disrespectful to her father. I know I should have handled it differently. I ask for everybody's forgiveness."

The court has ordered Chowdhury to stay away from his wife and daughter and attend anger-management and parenting classes under a one-year deferred judgment.