Gentry Collins, a former top political hand to Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele who resigned, blasted Steele, and then vied for his old boss’s job, has dropped out of the race.
Collins faced stiff odds in his bid as many of the RNC’s 168 members who will vote for the next chairman took a dim view of his resignation and public denunciation of Steele.
One GOP source described their views as not wanting to reward deputies who speak out against their bosses, thinking it could someday happen to them.
Though dropping out, Collins did have a major impact in the race, deeply wounding Steele at a time when many top Republican insiders saw no clear path to defeat the embattled incumbent.
“My resignation letter put forward concrete facts about the financial condition of the RNC in blunt terms, and it resonated with members of the Committee,” Collins said in a letter announcing he was dropping out of the race, “In it, I called for a change in leadership at the RNC and since then what I revealed to Committee Members has been validated. As it turns out, I believe that the memo has been a game-changer for Chairman Steele’s re-election prospects.”
Collins did not offer a specific reason for dropping out in his letter. He praised each of the candidates besides Steele.