Massachusetts State Rep. Dan Winslow will leave Beacon Hill at the end of the month to work for a large software support company.
The Norfolk Republican, who is taking a post as senior vice president of the Las Vegas-based company Rimini Street, made the announcement on Twitter.
Sad day. I must step away from public service to rejoin private sector full-time at end of month. Thanks to everyone for everything. #mapoli
“I have loved every second of my chance to participate in public life in Massachusetts but the financial realities of three tuitions and six figure debt from the U.S. Senate race simply have brought home the fact that I need to get back into the private sector full time and do what I need to do to support my family and get my kids through college," he told WGBH News.
Winslow ran for the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Kerry earlier this year, but lost in the Republican primary to Gabriel Gomez, who was later defeated by Democrat Ed Markey. Despite the loss and the large debt accrued from that campaign, Winslow said he will likely return to the public sector.
“This is not my first choice to leave public life. I would love to have stayed," he said.
He said he would have been a "shoo-in" to be re-elected to the House.
"Now that we have an open [Attorney General] seat, I think I could have had a really good shot to be competitive for that seat," he said. "But the sad fact is that had I won that seat, I couldn’t have been able to support my family with tuition and all. I just have to do what I have to do for my family and my hope is that if things work out in the private sector, and I think they will, that I’ll be able to make some meaningful contribution in the future.”
Though his legal residence will remain in Massachusetts, Winslow said his appointment is in San Fransisco and he will be traveling for much of the year.
