SABATTUS — Controversial Republican candidate Leslie Gibson, who drew fire for insulting several teen survivors of the Florida school shooting, is abandoning his effort to win a state House seat this year. 
 
 “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 Thomas Martin Jr., another Republican contender who entered the 57th District race Thursday. 
 
 “It’s the best thing for everybody,” Gibson said. 
 
 Gibson has been under fire this week for comments he made online about the teens in Florida who survived a school shooting in Parkland, Florida. He criticized two of them who were leading an effort to increase restrictions on gun sales in the wake of the Feb. 14 killings, calling one a “skinhead lesbian,” and another a “bald-faced liar.” 
 
 The 18-year-old student whom Gibson singled out, Emma Gonzalez, is among the students speaking out from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. In the wake of the Feb. 14 massacre there that left 17 of her classmates dead, she emerged as a leader in students’ fight to make assault rifles harder to come by. 
 
 “There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” Gibson wrote. 
 
 Gibson said in another tweet that calling her a survivor, as many have done, is disingenuous because she “was in a completely different part of the school” when students were gunned down. 
 
 Gibson apologized in a later tweet, saying, “I would like to extend to you my most sincere apology for how I addressed you. It was wrong and unacceptable. You are doing work that is important to you. I would like to extend my hand in friendship and understanding to you.” 
 
 Gibson said that during his career in the military, he took an oath “to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 
 
 “Because of this,” he said, “I am very passionate about protecting our constitutional rights from those who seek their elimination. It was not appropriate to single out the Parkland students, but I stand firm in my defense of our constitutional rights.” 
 
 David Hogg, the other teen Gibson insulted, tweeted on Wednesday, urging someone to run against Gibson. 
 
 “Who wants to run against this hate-loving politician?” asked Hogg, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “I don’t care what party. JUST DO IT.” 
 
 Hogg has been an outspoken advocate for taking on the National Rifle Association. 
 
 The incident that apparently set off Gibson was an appearance by Hogg on CNN in which the Parkland student lashed out at NRA spokeswoman Dana Loesch. He accused her of working with gun manufacturers to control Congress. 
 
 “She owns these congressmen. She can get them to do things,” Hogg told the network. “She doesn’t care about these children’s lives,” he said. 
 
 Gibson, who retired from the U.S. Navy, for years has used social media to comment on immigration, defend conservative politicians and promote Republican policies. He has a history of retweeting stridently anti-immigrant comments, often from accounts in Maine. 
 
 Last month, he explained on Facebook after “the tragedy that occurred in Florida” that there has been “a lot of misinformation, and flat out lies” circulated by “the liberal media and leftist anti-Second Amendment groups.” 
 
 As a lifetime member of the NRA, he said, he stands with the group’s efforts “to protect and preserve our Second Amendment rights,” which he said are “under attack.” 
 
 “The NRA and its members are being blamed for the Florida tragedy,” Gibson wrote. “Such blame is patently misdirected. The blame rests solely with the person who committed these murders.” 
 
 He made his social media accounts private after the uproar over his insults aimed at the teens. 
 
 Gibson had been cruising toward an unopposed election in the district, which includes Sabattus and Greene. But his comments stirred both Martin and Democrat Eryn Gilchrist to join the contest. 
 
 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. 
 
 Gilchrist, 28, a Connecticut native who works for a medical device company based in Bowdoin, is a 2013 graduate of Bates College. 
 
 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. 
 
 Martin, a 52-year-old contractor, said that people have to realize “that our words and actions have consequences.” 
 
 Gibson said he hopes his departure from the race will bring things back to normal. 
 
 He said he’s going to try to “get some peace and quiet in our lives” after the turmoil of recent days. 
 
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 filed under: ||||| In the past month, the vocal teenage survivors of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting, with their ballooning social-media followings and national TV appearances, have emerged as the newest and youngest voices in the push to beef up gun-control laws in the United States. 
 
 And critics who have bad-mouthed the teens on the Internet or the airwaves have found their own vitriol turned back on them by people sympathetic to the plight of students who became activists after seeing their classmates and educators slaughtered. 
 
 There was the aide to a Florida legislator who was fired after he called the school shooting survivors crisis actors who travel from tragic place to tragic place making impassioned but bogus political pleas to take away gun rights. Then there was Donald Trump Jr., who was blasted after he liked a tweet saying one of the most vocal students had been coached by his FBI agent father to peddle “anti-Trump rhetoric and anti-gun legislation.” 
 
 And several naysayers have been castigated for criticizing the teens for smiling on the set of CBS’s morning news show, saying the students were “posing for the photos like they are partying rock stars.” 
 
 Claiming some of the students on tv after #Parkland are actors is the work of a disgusting group of idiots with no sense of decency — Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) February 20, 2018 
 
 And then there is Leslie Gibson. 
 
 A week ago, the Republican was the only declared candidate to represent the 57th District in Maine’s House of Representatives. On Friday, his fortunes vastly changed as he quit the race to represent the towns of Greene and Sabattus, according to the Associated Press. 
 
 Leslie Gibson quits state House race after Thomas Martin jumps in for GOP https://t.co/REYsl1GAR0 via @SteveCollinsSJ #mepolitics pic.twitter.com/l4I0zuh8PM — Sun Journal (@sunjournal) March 17, 2018 
 
 Gibson had become known outside his little corner of Maine for what many say was his rage-tweet against the vocal survivors of the shooting that killed 17 in Parkland, Fla. 
 
 “There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” the now-deleted tweet read. 
 
 [Broward Sheriff’s Office releases video showing deputy standing outside Parkland school during massacre] 
 
 The 17-year-old girl he was referring to is Emma González, who has emerged as one of the most outspoken activists in the Parkland group. 
 
 She has, for example, called President Trump’s plan to arm teachers as a first line of defense school shooters “stupid.” 
 
 “First of all, Douglas ran out of paper for, like, two weeks in the school year, and now all a sudden they have $400 million to pay for teachers to get trained to arm themselves?” she says. “Really? Really?” 
 
 Sometimes, she has led people in “Shame on you!” chants directed at lawmakers. 
 
 Gibson’s tweet last week was a response to a report on González’s rocketing number of Twitter followers, the AP reported. But she wasn’t the only Parkland survivor he targeted. 
 
 He also criticized David Hogg, another Parkland student who has become a prominent activist following the shooting, calling Hogg “a bald faced liar.” 
 
 The reaction was swift. Hogg, who also saw a precipitous increase in his Twitter following, asked whether somebody, anybody, would run against Gibson. 
 
 Hey freinds in Maine! Who wants to run against this hate loving politician he's is running UNOPPOSED RUN AGAINST HIM I don't care what party JUST DO IT. https://t.co/vRR7p1ZHKf — David Hogg (@davidhogg111) March 14, 2018 
 
 The next day, Eryn Gilchrist, a 28-year-old Democrat who also hails from Maine’s 57th District, announced that she would also run for the seat, according to CBS News, because she was “horrified and embarrassed” that Gibson would represent her in the legislature. 
 
 And Thomas Martin Jr., a Republican, said he “couldn’t sit back” after reading Gibson’s comments and felt compelled to enter the race, according to the Portland Press Herald. 
 
 [‘Can you play dead?’ New details about the chaos and fear that surrounded the Parkland massacre.] 
 
 Gibson said he made the decision to quit after meeting with friends, family members and colleagues. Those consultations included what he calls a “very positive conversation” with Martin, the newspaper reported. Dropping out, he said is “the best decision for myself, my family, the Maine GOP and for candidate Tom Martin.” 
 
 Just as they have criticized politicians for what they say is inaction on gun control, the students have also gone head-to-head against their critics. 
 
 “I just think it’s a testament to the sick immaturity and broken state of our government when these people feel the need to peddle conspiracy theories about people that were in a school shooting where 17 people died, and it just makes me sick,” Hogg told BuzzFeed News. “It’s immature, rude and inhuman for these people to destroy the people trying to prevent the death of the future of America because they won’t,” he said. 
 
 Late Friday, he took to Twitter again. This time he was sharing news that Gibson was out of the race. 
 
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 A Republican candidate for Maine's House of Representatives dropped out of the race on Friday after facing a storm of backlash for mocking Parkland survivor and activist Emma González as a "skinhead lesbian." Afp Contributor / AFP / Getty Images 
 
 Leslie Gibson had previously been the only declared candidate in the race. “There is nothing about this skinhead lesbian that impresses me and there is nothing that she has to say unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat,” Gibson had tweeted, according to the Press Herald. In another tweet, Gibson reportedly derided claims that González is a survivor of the shooting because she “was in a completely different part of the school” when the shooter opened fire and killed 17 of her classmates. And, in yet another tweet, Gibson called David Hogg, another Parkland survivor and activist, “a bald faced liar" for his criticism of NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch. 
 
 Gibson's attacks on the students were criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike. Bruce Bickford, a Republican in the Maine House of Representatives, posted on Facebook that "this type of behavior is not an example of the Republican Party. I cannot and will not support this person! So Sad!!" Amy Volk, a Republican state senator in Maine, tweeted that Gibson had previously attacked her on social media and that he should not run for office. "Respect and kindness are so important, whether we are working with each other in the #MaineLegislature, interacting with constituents or discussing national issues," Volk said. In a statement to the Press Herald, Phil Bartlett, the chair of the Maine Democratic Party, called on Republican leadership to condemn Gibson. “Regardless of where someone falls along the political spectrum, we should all be able to agree that Les Gibson’s comments are reprehensible and deserving of our denunciation," Bartlett said. 
 
 Gibson subsequently apologized to González in a tweet on Monday. “Emma, my name is Les Gibson from Maine," he wrote. "I would like to extend to you my most sincere apology for how I addressed you. It was wrong and unacceptable.” González did not respond. 
 
 On Wednesday, Hogg tweeted and asked literally anyone to run against the unopposed candidate. Hey freinds in Maine! Who wants to run against this hate loving politician he's is running UNOPPOSED RUN AGAINST HIM I don't care what party JUST DO IT. https://t.co/vRR7p1ZHKf 
 
 And two people took actually Hogg up on the suggestion. The following day, Republican Thomas Martin Jr. and Democrat Eryn Gilchrist filed the paperwork to run for the seat. Martin, a former state senator, told the Press Herald he decided to run because "after those recent unfortunate comments, I couldn’t sit back." 
 
 Gilchrist, a 28-year-old who works for a medical device company, said she'd never considered running for office, but was so “horrified and embarrassed” at the idea that Gibson might become her representative that she decided to enter the race. Eryn Gilchrist is stepping up to challenge Les Gibson, who called a Parkland survivor a "skinhead lesbian," because she knows Maine people deserve leaders who show respect and work through differences to make lives better. Go Eryn! #mepolitics https://t.co/rVSdSad7Dd 
 
 “I would really have been happy to partake in representative democracy by voting,” Gilchrist said. Gilchrist and Martin could not immediately be reached for comment. 
 
 González tweeted about Gilchrist's decision to run, saying that "all I can say is Thank You." Eryn 💕💕💕 all I can say is Thank You https://t.co/DhBR5LN3Ro 
 
 On Friday, Gibson dropped out of the race, saying, "It’s the best thing for everybody." “I am not walking away with my head hung low," he told the Press Herald. "I am walking away with my head held high.” He has since deleted his personal Twitter account and set his campaign's Twitter to private. BuzzFeed News was unable to reach Gibson for comment. 
 
 After Gibson's announcement, González and Sarah Chadwick, another activist and Parkland student, pulled no punches. It’s what he deserves ☕️ https://t.co/NvXx6fKjYV
– A Maine candidate's attack on an outspoken survivor of the Parkland school shooting angered so many people that he ended up having to drop out of a race in which he had been running unopposed. Leslie Gibson, a Republican who had been running for a state House seat in the 57th district, tweeted that Emma Gonzalez was a "skinhead lesbian" with nothing to say "unless you’re a frothing at the mouth moonbat." In another tweet from his now-deleted account, Gibson rejected Gonzalez's claim to be a survivor of the mass shooting, saying she had been in a "completely different part of the school," BuzzFeed reports. He also called David Hogg, another survivor, a "bald-faced liar," prompting Hogg to ask whether anybody would run against him, the Washington Post reports. After the tweets—which were denounced by several Republican state lawmakers—28-year-old Democrat Eryn Gilchrist announced her candidacy, saying she would be "horrified and embarrassed" to have Gibson represent her. Thomas Martin Jr., a Republican, also announced his candidacy, saying he represented "real Republican values," the Portland Press Herald reports. Gibson, who apologized to Gonzalez earlier in the week for the "wrong and unacceptable" way in which he addressed her, dropped out of the race Friday, saying he had made the decision after speaking to family members, friends, and Martin. "I am not walking away with my head hung low. I am walking away with my head held high," he said. (After the Parkland shooting, Gonzalez called out President Trump and the NRA.)