The press secretary for Democratic candidate for governor, Keith Allred, is leaving a leadership position in the Idaho Press Club days after the chairman of the Idaho Republican Party suggested he step down.

“I’m eager to devote my full energies to the campaign to make Keith Allred the next governor of Idaho,” Shea Andersen, Allred's spokesman, said in a news release Monday. He had been president of the southwest chapter of the Idaho Press Club, a non-profit organization with the mission of improving journalism in Idaho. “I look forward to returning to the Press Club after the election,” Anderson said. He was named Allred's spokesman shortly after the Democratic candidate entered the race in December.

Idaho Republican Party Chairman Norm Semanko publicly called for Andersen to step down on Feb. 26. "I find it ironic that the Southwest Chapter of the Idaho Press Club would allow a partisan campaign worker in Shea Anderson, Keith Allred’s campaign spokesman, to sit on their board," Semanko said in a news release.

Note: IdahoReporter.com writers belong to the Idaho Press Club.