Two days after jumping in the crowded contest for Colorado GOP state chair, Douglas County Republican Mark Baisley abandoned the race, saying he’d decided his candidacy wouldn’t be good for the party.

Baisley, a former chairman of the Douglas County GOP and former vice chairman of the state party, said in a Facebook post late Saturday night that he hadn’t realized the degree Republicans were “already struggling with their decision” when he announced he was running on Thursday afternoon.

Republicans elect state party leaders to two-year terms on the morning of Saturday, April 1, at the GOP state central committee meeting at Englewood High School.

“Folks, I am withdrawing from the chairman’s race,” Baisley wrote. “Or to put it more accurately, I have decided that I will not accept the nomination at the Colorado Republican organization meeting three weeks from today.”

His exit from the race leaves three candidates in the running: former congressional candidate George Athanasopoulos, former El Paso County chair Jeff Hays and Grand Junction activist Kevin McCarney, chair of the Trump campaign in Mesa County and a recent entry in the state chair race.

State Republican Party Chairman Steve House, who ousted two-term state chair Ryan Call two years ago, said in late January that he wouldn’t be seeking a second term.

Baisley was denied reelection as vice chair at the 2015 GOP central committee meeting, losing to Colorado Springs Republican Derrick Wilburn, who said in January he wouldn’t be seeking reelection or running for state chair. (Baisley lost a run for state chair in 2013, coming up short in a bid to unseat Call. He was elected vice chair of the state party six months later when Don Ytterberg stepped down to mount an unsuccessful run for Congress against U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter.)

Baisley’s entry threw a wild card into the contentious race just three weeks before the election. His supporters saw the cyber-security expert – he’s president and CEO of the Littleton-based data-security firm Slipglass – as a candidate who could appeal to Republicans taken with Athanasopoulos’s aggressive support for the caucus system and opposition to open primaries, along with Hays’s experience with fundraising and running large party organizations.

But after an initial flurry of excitement over his candidacy, Baisley appears to have run up against a race that already has firm lines drawn.

“A reality that I did not have three days ago that I know in full today is how much the 400+ members of the Colorado Republican Committee were already struggling with their decision and that adding my name to the mix was not helping. Bottom line is that I believe my stepping in to the race at this point is not good for the party,” he wrote.

Baisley added words of gratitude to supporters and an apology for complicating matters. “The chairmanship is an important job and has become a very large task,” he concluded. “I will work to support the success of whomever you guys choose.”

Hays greeted Baisley’s announcement with praise for the Republican stalwart and a call for party unity.

“Mark has years of service behind him and I’m sure many more to come,” Hays told The Colorado Statesman on Saturday night. “For Colorado Republicans to win in 2018, all of us, whether in elected positions or not, will have to pull together as a team. As an experienced county chair, Mark gets that. I’m glad to know that he and I will be fighting side-by-side.”

Athanasopoulos likewise expressed admiration for Baisley and then struck a confident note.

“Mark is a great leader and an exceptional man. His service to the party has been extraordinary and I thank him for it,” Athanasopoulos said late Saturday. “Now the grassroots can fully come together to win this race.”

– ernest@coloradostatesman.com