Former Greens candidate was 'warned off' greyhound tracks

But a spokesperson for the party that had supported the 2017 ban on greyhound racing said that's not why he stood down.

Bradley Stanton announced earlier this month that he was contesting the seat of Wollongong for the Greens.

Read more: First look at Warrawong Plaza's Woolworths store

However, just weeks later he pulled out of the race with his social media pages deleted and any presence on the Illawarra Greens site scrubbed.

In 2010 Mr Stanton, then known as Brad Gully, fell foul of Greyhound Racing South Australia over a syndicate he managed called Team Bundy which reportedly owned as many as 70 dogs and pups.

The syndicate would advertise pups and dogs on its website and allow people to buy a share in a greyhound.

Stewards had called him to an inquiry to investigate allegations of owing "substantial amounts of money to a substantial number of people", according to then chief steward Paul Marks.

After he failed to appear, Mr Stanton was banned from all racetracks.

In 2012, Mr Stanton was looking to run for the Labor party in the seat of South Coast but admitted to the South Coast Register that he had not informed the ALP of his situation.

"It's something I see as my business," he said at the time. "Something I'm trying to fix up.

"However it's not something I'm trying to hide."

That same story said he planned to work to pay back the Team Bundy investors.

A Greens spokesperson said the party did due diligence on all candidates' backgrounds.

The spokesperson added that Mr Stanton's issues in the greyhound industry were not the reason for his removal as a candidate.

"What I can tell you is he withdrew," the spokesperson said.

"It was personal issues with him. We often have people put their hand up for this sort of stuff and then the reality of what the next few months are going to be like kind of dawns on them.

"And I think that's really what's happened here."

The spokesperson said the announcement of a new candidate for Wollongong was "imminent".

Mr Stanton was contacted for comment but said he would make no statement on his reasons for stepping down beyond stating it was for "personal matters".