A candidate for Maine’s state legislature has quit the race after being condemned by both Democrats and Republicans for calling a survivor of a mass shooting at a Florida high a “skinhead lesbian.”

Leslie Gibson described his decision to end his campaign for a seat in the Maine House of Representatives as “the best thing for everybody.”

Just days after the massacre last month in Parkland Florida, Gibson — a life-long member the National Rifle Association (NRA) — took to Twitter to post cruel and derisive comments about Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

The school was the scene of a horrific February 14 massacre that left 17 people dead. According to HuffPost, Gibson posted him remarks after becoming angry upon seeing a report in The Hill about how Gonzalez had surpassed the NRA and its top spokesperson in Twitter followers.


“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 tweeted. Gonzalez gained fame just days after the mass shooting, when she gave a moving speech at a gun control rally in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Gibson had also criticized another Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor who also gained fame after the tragedy, student David Hogg, calling him “a baldfaced liar.”

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

Gonzalez, Hogg, and other students at Stoneman Douglas have come under attack by some Republican lawmakers and pro-firearms groups who are worried about the growing momentum for gun control in the wake of the shooting.


After Gibson posted his remarks, one Republican state senator from Maine, Sen. Amy Volk (R), called on him to “drop out of the race.” However, the state’s most prominent Republican, Maine’s controversial governor, Paul LePage, has yet to denounce Gibson’s comments.

In a prepared statement, the state’s Democratic Party chairman, Phil Bartlett, questioned why LePage had stayed silent on the issue, the Portland Press Herald reported. “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 was initially running unopposed in the Maine state House race. However, Democrat Eryn Gilchrist entered the race after learning of Gibson’s comments. Hogg had called for candidates to oppose Gibson. Gilchrist said she was running because she was “horrified and embarrassed” by the thought of Gibson winning the race, The Sun Journal reported.

A Republican, Thomas Martin Jr, a former state senator from Benton, Maine, also joined the race before Gibson decided to drop out, telling the Portland Press Herald that it is important to have a candidate who represents real Republican values. “After those recent unfortunate comments, I couldn’t sit back,” Martin said.

Gibson subsequently apologized to Gonzalez: “I would like to extend to you my most sincere apology for how I addressed you. It was wrong and unacceptable,” Gibson said in a tweet. “You are doing work that is important to you. I would like to extend my hand in friendship and understanding to you.”