With just days left before the Peach State filing deadline, the Mac Collins watch can finally be called off.

On Monday evening, the former Republican Congressman officially ended speculation about whether he would try to return to Congress this year when he told the Macon Telegraph that he was “just going to sit this one out.”

Collins, who lost to 8th district Rep. Jim Marshall (D) in 2006 by fewer than 2,000 votes, had continually refused to rule out the possibility of running again this cycle. Last summer, Collins loaned his campaign committee $130,000, stirring speculation of a rematch in the Macon-based district.

But in more recent months, most Georgia Republicans had begun to roll their eyes at the idea of a Collins comeback considering how strongly the Republican establishment had lined up behind retired Air Force Maj. Gen. Rick Goddard, a decorated veteran who is being touted as a top-tier candidate by the National Republican Congressional Committee in this battleground district.

At the end of March Marshall reported almost $1.2 million in cash on hand in his campaign account to Goddard’s $404,000.

— John McArdle