Secretary of State Mark Martin's internal communications manager, Alex Reed, has stepped down, nearly three months after he resigned from the Pulaski County Election Commission and was removed as campaign treasurer for Republican congressional candidate Ann Clemmer.

In a letter, "To Whom it may Concern," and dated Wednesday, Reed wrote that he has "been given a fantastic opportunity to advance my career and educational opportunities that I cannot pass up."

Reed, who didn't provide further details in the letter, could not be reached for comment by telephone Friday afternoon.

Mark Myers, Martin's director of strategic initiatives, said Reed submitted his resignation letter to him Thursday, and he doesn't know what Reed plans to do next.

"He just wanted to move on," said Myers. "I don't think it is in Arkansas."

Myers said that Friday was Reed's last day at work, and Reed will remain on the payroll for three more weeks to be paid for his accrued vacation. He said he doesn't know who will replace Reed.

Reed, Martin's press secretary at the time, was placed on administrative leave April 26, a day after his resignation from the Pulaski County Election Commission and removal from the Clemmer campaign.

When he returned to work May 12, he switched jobs with Martin's then-internal communications manager, Laura Labay.

Myers has declined to say why Labay and Reed switched positions or why Reed was placed on administrative leave, saying they were related to "a personnel matter." Reed's salary is $53,184 per year, and Labay's salary is $42,500 per year, according to the state's transparency website.

Reed resigned from the Pulaski County Election Commission after liberal blogger and attorney Matt Campbell of Little Rock said Reed's involvement in Clemmer's campaign made him ineligible to serve as a commissioner under state law.

Reed has said he was not involved in Clemmer's campaign when he joined the commission March 4 and he knew it would be against the law to do so, but Federal Election Commission documents filed by the campaign in April listed him as treasurer. A spokesman for Clemmer has said that Reed's name was taken off the campaign's bank account April 14.

Clemmer, who announced April 25 that Reed had been removed as her campaign treasurer after the discovery of "unauthorized disbursements," subsequently told the FEC that the unauthorized disbursements lasted from the end of October through late March.

After the committee sought reimbursement from Reed, he immediately paid $22,007.83.

Before an outside counsel completed his review of the bank records, the campaign committee refunded $7,871.73 of the $22,007.83 to Reed, Clemmer reported.

After the counsel completed his work, the campaign decided that it had returned $538.91 more than it should have to Reed, Clemmer said. She reported that he repaid that amount June 30.

Jill Sawyer Hatcher of Shannon Hills replaced Reed as treasurer.

Clemmer, a state representative and political science instructor at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, lost her bid for the Republican nomination in the 2nd congressional district to Little Rock banker French Hill on May 20.

In Wednesday's resignation letter, Reed wrote that "it is with a heavy heart that I would like to put in my ... notice.

"I absolutely love and cherish the time I have spent at the secretary of state's office. I have learned so much from so many people. All I can say is thank you for every opportunity that you have afforded me and I have greatly appreciated being a part of this journey," he wrote.

Reed, who began working for Martin in 2011, had previously worked on Tim Griffin's successful 2010 congressional campaign and Little Rock businessman Curtis Coleman's unsuccessful 2010 bid for the U.S. Senate, according to Reed's personnel file.

Metro on 07/19/2014