Another One Gone

A not so poorly kept secret was announced today.

State Rep. Holly Richardson, perhaps the state’s most prominent political blogger, resigned her legislative seat Friday to join former state Sen. Dan Liljenquist’s campaign against Sen. Orrin Hatch.

The resignation was effective immediately.

"It was a difficult decision for me and not one that I made lightly," she said on her Holly on the Hill blog. "As I decided to join Dan Liljenquist’s campaign, I knew I could not in good conscience focus on a Senate race AND (sic) be fully present during the legislative session. It would not be fair to my constituents to be distracted by another campaign."

Richardson said that the Liljenquist campaign would need the commitment of all of his supporters to beat Hatch and in a show of her dedication to the cause, she would be resigning from the House.

Now it was no secret that Holly was working on Sen. Liljenquist's campaign but it was not common knowledge that she was considering resigning.

Brian Halladay, legislative District 57 chairman, said he had heard that Richardson would be stepping down, but didn’t know it would be so soon. He said there are no firm plans yet to pick a replacement, but the party would move quickly to have someone chosen before the session starts.

"Obviously [her time] was short," he said. "I don’t know whether she knew she was going to be taking this action when she jumped into the race. I would hope she didn’t. I think she’s doing what she feels like she needs to do and I’m sure our district can elect someone to that position in the short time frame who will be good for the district."

I honestly don't know if this was the right decision politically, but it was the right one for Holly (after talking to her about this) and that is ultimately what is important.

Good Luck Holly and good campaigning.  I look forward to seeing you on the trail.