POULSBO — Jack Woodard withdrew his candidacy for the Kitsap County Fire District 18 commission Thursday.

Woodard, who resigned from the commission in 2007 after 12 years of service, had sought to regain his old position and had filed to run against his successor, Martin Sullivan.

He said he withdrew because he didn’t “want to go down that road,” referring to questions about his 2007 resignation.

He said he didn’t want the campaign to become negative. “I was trying to do something productive and help the department,” he said of his latest candidacy.

Woodard is a battalion chief at Navy Region Northwest and a former District 18 firefighter and commissioner. Sullivan is a retired Navy officer and an engineer for Lockheed Martin who was appointed to the commission after Woodard resigned.

Woodard’s resignation letter, dated Aug. 31, 2007, was effective at midnight that night. His resignation came quietly and suddenly; there was no press coverage, and fire officials weren’t comfortable talking about the resignation then or now, calling it a personal matter.

“I am currently experiencing many life-changing and stressful situations and I feel it is time for me to redirect my attention to what is most important, my family and loved ones,” Woodard wrote in his resignation letter, obtained Tuesday from the county Elections Office.

Woodard said Wednesday he resigned from the commission because he was going through a divorce and his children were dealing with medical issues.

Woodard is now married to Wendy (Luther) Woodard, the district’s finance assistant. The two met at the department while he was a commissioner. If he returned to the commission, he would have to abstain from voting on the employee wages-and-benefits contract under which his wife is covered.