(CNN) Republican candidate Leslie Gibson has dropped out of the race for Maine's House of Representatives following backlash from controversial comments he made about two student survivors of the Parkland, Florida, school shooting.

"I am not walking away with my head hung low. I am walking away with my head held high," Gibson told the Portland Press Herald on Friday, saying he had made the decision after conversations with family and friends.

"It's the best thing for everybody," Gibson added.

The Maine candidate drew outrage after posting insulting tweets about two Parkland students -- Emma González and David Hogg -- in light of their national gun control efforts.

"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 of González, according to the Press Herald. He reportedly called Hogg a "bald-faced liar." The Twitter account used to make the remarks appears to have been deactivated and Gibson's campaign account has been set to private.

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