Atkins considering run for 41st District

There’s a lot of buzz these days about the 41st District after Rep. Rich Collins, R-Millsboro, announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.

Although he has not yet filed or even officially announced for the seat, John Atkins, former 41st representative who served as a Republican and then a Democrat, said he will decide after the new year whether he will try again for his former seat.

“I’m at a good place in my life now and have had a lot of people urge me to run,” Atkins said.

While his past political service was full of twists, Atkins said he wants to stick with issues such as development, traffic and dredging of the Inland Bays and rivers that flow into them.

First elected in 2002 as a Republican, Atkins resigned in 2007 over ethics concerns connected to an offensive touching charge filed during a domestic dispute. He then ran as a Democrat in 2008 and won. He continued to serve as a Democrat until 2014 when Collins won the seat.

Controversy continued to follow Atkins after his public service with a series of domestic issues resulting in his plea in 2018 to misdemeanor third-degree assault and breach of release, also a misdemeanor. He was sentenced to one year of probation, which he said he completed in six months. By law, his plea prohibited Atkins from possessing firearms for five years.

“I served the constituents who elected me in both parties because they knew my service,” he said. “Unfortunately, I was involved in an unhealthy relationship that ended over four years ago. I’ve taken responsibility, paid the price, have a wonderful fiancée who supports me and my boys, and I’m ready to go back to work for the people of the 41st District, and give them the same constituent service and results that I did during my years of service.”

If he files to run, Atkins said he will do so as a Republican, which would set up a primary against Douglas Conaway, who filed to run in November. Democrat Ryan Stuckey filed to run in October.