Leslie Gibson had a pretty bad week. He woke up Monday as the unopposed candidate for the Maine state House, but by Friday, he was a goner.
First, after taking to to Twitter to complain about prominent Parkland survivor and student activist Emma Gonzalez, who identifies as Cuban and bisexual, Gibson found himself the focal point of online outrage.
“There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re frothing at the mouth moonbat,” Gibson wrote.
His attempts to come after another recognizable Stoneman Douglas Student, 17-year-old David Hogg soon surfaced, among other problematic tweets.
The incident that apparently angered Gibson involved an appearance Hogg made on CNN during which the Parkland student lashed out at NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch.
“She owns these congressmen. She can get them to do things,” Hogg said on CNN, adding, “She doesn’t care about these children’s lives.”
Gibson again took to Twitter, calling Hogg “a baldfaced liar. Dana Loesch ‘owns’ Congressmen? Completely absurd.”
Once he was found out, Gibson immediately made his Twitter accounts private and apologized (kind of, not really), but it was too late. Twitter had the goods, and they had his number.
There was still time for people to run against him–as long as they declared by Thursday, March 15.
So on Wednesday, one of his targets, David Hogg, begged someone to heed the call.
28-year-old Democrat Eryn Gilchrist stepped up, apparently surprising herself. She even has the support of Maine Democrats.
Gilchrist filed the required paperwork on Thursday to run for the 57th District seat.
She said she never anticipated running for office but felt so “horrified and embarrassed” at the thought of Gibson representing her that she decided to jump in.
“I would really have been happy to partake in representative democracy by voting,” Gilchrist said.
Thomas Martin, Jr., a Republican, also jumped into the race, which suddenly meant Gibson might have to endure a primary in June.
Martin said on Thursday he felt compelled to run after he read Gibson’s strident comments about the two Florida students.
Martin, a former state senator from Benton, said it is important to have a candidate who represents real Republican values.
“After those recent unfortunate comments, I couldn’t sit back,” Martin said.
And on Friday, Gibson withdrew from the race, claiming his pride is still intact, which we ALL know is a lie.
“I am not walking away with my head hung low. I am walking away with my head held high,” Gibson said Friday.
Gibson said he made the decision after talking with his family, praying and discussing it with friends and colleagues, including Martin.
“It’s the best thing for everybody,” Gibson said.
He said he’s going to try to “get some peace and quiet in our lives” after the turmoil of recent days.
Good luck with that, sir.