Erick Erickson names successor for RedState exit

Conservative blogger Erick Erickson is leaving the blog he helped popularize at the end of the year.

in a post on the influential political blog RedState, Erickson announced on Monday that he is stepping down as editor in chief.

{mosads}“The cat is completely out of the bag, so I might as well fess up,” he wrote.

“I am leaving at the end of the year,” Erickson continued. “To be perfectly candid, I want to own my own site again, do my own thing and experiment with the integration of radio and the web and advertising in my own way.

“Now, don’t worry, I’ll still be here, but at the end of December we will formally transition me out of title ‘editor-in-chief,’” he added.

“In the meantime, as I take a leap of faith to projects and adventures, I value your friendship and I very much value your prayers.”

Erickson then named long-time RedState writer Leon Wolf as the site’s managing editor following his departure next December.

“Leon [is] our house snapping turtle,” he wrote in a separate post about Wolf’s new role. 

“Once he latches on to something, he does not let go until he gets resolution or hears thunder,” Erickson said. “But rarely has he been wrong.”

Erickson said on Monday that he decided on his exit in June following the Salem Media Group’s purchase of his blog in 2014.

He argued that Wolf is the perfect captain for keeping RedState afloat in the years ahead.

“Right now, RedState is me and I am RedState,” Erickson said. “It’s time for Erick to be Erick and it is time for RedState to have its own identity.

“I think Leon is the best person to run that transition and make that happen,” he added. “We are very blessed to have had a smooth transition to a great company in Salem Communications.”

Erickson added that he plans on focusing on his radio broadcasting after leaving RedState at year’s end.

His decision puts him at odds with Salem given that a rival, Cox Media Group, produces his show.

“I just don’t want to run two separate websites between the two radio competitors when I have a pretty specific vision of what I want to do blending radio, the Internet and conservative activism,” Erickson wrote.

Erickson said he plans on writing future blog posts for RedState as time allows. He also promised he is attending its annual RedState Gathering activist forum next year.

RedState launched in 2004 and has since boasted numerous lawmakers as its contributors, including former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Then-Gov. Rick Perry (R-Texas) also notably announced his failed GOP presidential campaign during the 2012 cycle at the group’s RedState Gathering the year before.