State representative Leslie Gibson, a Maine Republican who was running unopposed for his seat, gained a challenger on Thursday after posting tweets that insulted two students from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School who have become vocal gun control activists.
In his since-deleted tweets, Gibson called students Emma Gonzalez a “skinhead lesbian” and David Hogg a “bald-faced liar.” Gibson has since deleted his Twitter account.
Hogg called for someone to run against the unopposed, “hate loving politician.”
“I don’t care what party JUST DO IT,” Hogg tweeted Wednesday.
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
Eryn Gilchrist said she never intended to run for political office, but was motivated to oppose Gibson after reading his comments. She said she was already in the process of gaining the necessary signatures to enter the race when Hogg made his Twitter plea.
“I never thought I would run for office, and I was perfectly content with just remaining a member of the community, but after reading Mr. Gibson’s comments I thought that the people of Greene and Sabattus deserved a representative who will respect people and try to work through their differences to make our lives better,” Gilchrist said in the statement to NBC News.
Since his tweets, Gibson has apologized and said he would like to extend a hand in friendship to both Hogg and Gonzalez.
