Steve House announced Monday that he would not seek another term as chairman of the Colorado Republican Party — nor make a bid for governor in 2018.

House served a tumultuous two years as the party’s leader after his historic ouster of the incumbent chairman in 2015 with the backing of the more conservative members of his party.

Months into his term, House faced an unsuccessful coup attempt led by Attorney General Cynthia Coffman that involved accusations of extramarital affairs and threats. And he came under fire in the 2016 election for his perceived bias against Donald Trump, drawing numerous death threats.

House, a 56-year-old health-care consultant, is now vying for a position in the Trump administration and plans to lead fundraising for the party’s independent political committee during the 2018 governor’s race.

“2018 is going to be a turning point for our state, and I want to ensure that as a party we do the fundraising necessary so that our general election candidate will win,” House said in a statement issued by the party.

In an interview, House said his time as chairman was difficult on his family and his career, and he accomplished “what I needed or wanted to do at the party.”

So far, two Republicans are competing to replace House when the party meets April 1 to pick its new leader: El Paso County GOP Chairman Jeff Hays and George Athanasopoulos, who lost his race for the 7th congressional district in November.

More candidates are expected to enter the race, and House said is he waiting to see who joins before endorsing a successor.

House rose to the top in March 2015 by defeating Chairman Ryan Call, despite the party’s big wins in the 2014 election and the backing of U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. It marked the first time since at least 1920 that a party chairman lost a re-election bid.

Coffman recruited House to challenge Call and exposed deep rifts in the party ranks. But months later, she turned on House and called for his resignation at a meeting in which he said he was threatened that his “affairs” with other women would become public.

House denied having any affairs but initially indicated he would resign, only to reverse himself and keep his post. Coffman later denied making threats but questions about extortion and blackmail persisted.

House once again faced criticism amid the state’s Republican caucus in 2016 after GOP leaders decided to cancel the ceremonial straw poll. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz later carried the state’s delegation and Trump accused Colorado party leaders of rigging the system.

A message sent from the state party’s Twitter account only further enraged Trump supporters, who called for armed protests at House’s home in Brighton.

“None of that stuff was easy, but I think it gave us an opportunity to lead through a crisis and show people that if you are doing the right thing … you just stand up and say you are doing the right thing and you get through it,” House said. “I think it was a unique opportunity to lead. I would rather had it been something less than that because it was a fairly intense set of experience but it didn’t scare me off.”

House later worked closely with the Trump campaign — despite the Colorado delegation’s opposition to Trump at the Republican National Convention — once the candidate became the party’s nominee. And now he’s interested in an administration position that taps his decades of experience in the health-care arena. If the job doesn’t materialize, he said he plans to return to consulting.

He said he didn’t think “it’s the right time” for him to run for governor again. He added, “Frankly, politics isn’t in my blood like it is for a lot of people.”