Englewood City Councilmember Rick Gillit made it official,
withdrawing his name for the Republican nomination as a candidate
for State House District 38.
The announcement came on the heels of the announcement by
Littleton resident Kathleen Conti that she is seeking the
Republican nomination for the seat.
“I ran for the Englewood City Council to serve the people of my
community but when it appeared State Rep. Joe Rice, D-Arapahoe,
would run unopposed for re-election, I filed as a candidate to run
against him,” Gillit said. “However, even when I filed with the
Republican party as a state legislative candidate, I heard there
might be another Republican who might get into the race and I
mentioned that it would be my intention to withdraw if there was
another Republican candidate in District 38. That is why I didn’t
raise any funds or do any campaigning. However, had there been no
other Republican in the race by May, I would have launched a
vigorous campaign.”
While he didn’t actively campaign for the Legislature, he said
he did go to a couple meetings in District 38 to discuss issues but
that was the extent of his campaigning.
“There are still people who want me to run for the state
Legislature,” he said. “However, I made my commitment to serve the
people of Englewood when I successfully ran for city council and it
was my commitment to my wife to withdraw from the Legislative race
if there was another Republican candidate. Actually, it’ll be nice
to have a summer off from campaigning.”
