Another politician from Gardendale has decided to take a pass on the race to fill the state Senate seat being vacated by Scott Beason.

Mayor Othell Phillips told The North Jefferson News on Wednesday afternoon that he will not run for the 17th District seat.

“This decision comes after many hours of thinking, praying and discussing it with my family,” Phillips said. “The most important earthly obligation that I have right now should be to my wife and two teenage children. My career focus is to continue to move the City of Gardendale forward as its mayor. I want to thank those who have encouraged me over the past few days, and I am not ruling out the possibility to serve in the state legislature in future years.”

Phillips said shortly after Beason’s announcement that he was “prayerfully thinking” about entering the Republican primary, after being encouraged to do so by friends and other state lawmakers. His decision Wednesday comes a day after Gardendale council president Stan Hogeland made a similar announcement. Both he and Phillips were on Capitol Hill in Montgomery on Tuesday for an Alabama League of Municipalities seminar, but each also used the trip as an opportunity to feel out members of the legislature about a possible run for the office.

Hogeland made his decision on the drive back home, stopping along the way to post an online message saying he was “staying put.”

So far, two candidates have officially filed for the race: Oneonta businessman Jum Murphree, who ran against Beason in 2010; and Shay Shelnutt, a businessman originally from Pinson who now lives in Trussville.

The filing deadline for the race is Friday at 5 p.m. at Alabama Republican Headquarters in Hoover,