After filing papers at the last minute to run for the governor’s office, Blackwell, of Mountain Brook dropped out of the race Monday.

“Senator Slade Blackwell withdrew his candidacy for the position of governor today,” Katie E. Lansford, director of communications and marketing for the Alabama Republican Party, said in an email to BirminghamWatch. She said she could not comment further.

The move leaves Blackwell out of the election for this year, since he had not filed papers to run for re-election to the District 15 seat he has held since 2010.

Blackwell could not be reached for comment.

Original content:
The Republican who has represented Senate District 15 since 2010 has considered running for higher office before, talking about races for the U.S. House and Senate in previous years. But his name was not one of the ones that showed up on all the pundits’ speculation lists in the past few months. Nonetheless, the 49-year-old filed his papers to run with the Republican Party on Friday before qualifying ended at 5 p.m.