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For the third time in less than two years, a Sanford Herald editor has stepped down.

G. Chambers Williams III, officially named editor in early June, left the paper this week after less than four months on the job, sources close to The Rant said today. His marks the shortest tenure for the paper’s top editorial spot since Walter H. Paramore lasted less than a year in 1951.

dc556cb0-296e-11e5-8dea-27ad72b437b8Williams’ predecessor, Shawn Stinson, ran the paper from January 2016 through May of this year (17 months) before leaving for an editor position in West Virginia. And before that, Tom Jensen was editor from October 2014 through November 2015 (14 months) before returning to Iowa to work in higher education.

During his four months, Williams butted heads a few times with local Democrats who voiced displeasure over The Herald’s perceived right-wing slant, particularly on its editorial page, which recently published editorials from other sources calling NFL anthem protesters “stuck on stupid” and Democrats “un-Christian” and allowed regular column space for local GOP leader Jim Womack (despite Womack’s refusal to speak to reporters for the paper). Stinson faced similar complaints for controversial social media posts about then-Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and an editorial defending Donald Trump’s “grab her by the p—” remarks by calling them “locker room talk.”

The Herald has not publicly announced Williams’ departure and has yet to go public with a job posting for a new editor.

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