FOXBORO - William Patrick Darcey Jr., a retired Foxboro postal worker, said he has decided against seeking the Democratic nomination to represent the town as state representative.

Barring potential write-ins, Darcey's decision clears the field for Devin Patrick Romanul, 23, of 282 Ware St. in Mansfield, to try to unseat Rep. Jay Barrows, R-Mansfield, in the general state election this fall.

Darcey, 57, of 18 Cocasset St., who had taken out nomination papers to run in the Sept. 16 democratic primary, said he started campaigning too late and has learned that local party leaders favor Romanul for the Democratic nomination.

"I guess I got out of the box too late," Darcey said.

He said he would not want to complicate the vote counting for town clerks, given his slender chances of gaining the nomination.

Romanul will likely face Barrows, a first-term representative, in the Nov. 4 state election to represent the 1st Bristol District on Beacon Hill. The district encompasses Foxboro and parts of Mansfield and Norton. Romanul is a 2003 graduate of Mansfield High School and a 2007 graduate of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., where he was president of student government and earned a degree in political science.

He served as a volunteer legislative aide to Sen. James Timilty, D-Walpole, in 2005-2006, campaigned for the senator's re-election in 2006 and is a member of the Mansfield Democratic Town Committee.

State senate race

A race for the state senate seat is taking shape between Timilty and Republican Jon W. Rockwood, 47, an attorney in the office of Foxboro's town counsel, who also serves as moderator in his hometown of Walpole.

Timilty and Rockwood are the only candidates who have taken out nomination papers to run in their respective primaries, which are also scheduled to be held on Sept. 16.

Timilty is serving his second two-year term as senator in the Bristol and Norfolk District. The senate district comprises parts of Attleboro and Sharon, and all of Foxboro, Mansfield, Norton, Rehoboth, Seekonk, Walpole, Medfield and Dover.

April 29 was the deadline for candidates for the state Senate and House to submit nomination signatures to town clerks in the various communities where those voters reside.

The candidate must submit the certified signatures to the Secretary of State's office by May 27.