State Rep. Wayne Pettigrew surprised a lot of people when he dropped out of a runoff in his race for re-election. Marian Cooksey, formerly an aide to Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin, finished less than 100 votes behind the incumbent, taking 44% to his 46% with the balance going to a third candidate. Pettigrew had frustrated leaders in his own caucus in recent years, splitting from most other Republicans with his support for the expansion of gambling. He also stirred up controversy with his support for flying the battle flag of a Confederate Cherokee regiment to replace the Confederate flag as one of Oklahoma's 14 flags on display at the State Capitol, with his attempt to regulate tribal membership, and his push to raise fuel taxes.

I'm writing all this just to give me an excuse to quote the following from the Whirled's story, which made me laugh out loud.

In stepping down, Pettigrew cited the demands of his growing business and his family, and the "sinister" campaign waged by his opponent, or at least by his opponent's supporters:

The lawmaker said Cooksey may not have known everything door-knocking backers were telling constituents, but criticized her for aligning with those "violently opposed" to him.

"When you go to bed with those people, you get their crabs," Pettigrew said at a state Capitol news conference.

Most people would have gone for the "lie down with dogs, get up with fleas" metaphor, but evidently Mr. Pettigrew's mind runs in different circles.