Sexual misconduct allegations topple some state lawmakers

Rep. Mark Lovell
Rep. Mark Lovell

State lawmakers across the country have been accused of sexual harassment or misconduct over the past year as part of a national reckoning on the topic. A look at those who have resigned:

1. Alaska: Rep. Dean Westlake submitted his resignation letter Dec. 15 after being accused by several women of inappropriate behavior.

2. California: Assemblyman Matt Dababneh resigned effective Jan. 1 after a lobbyist said he pushed her into a bathroom during a Las Vegas social event and engaged in lewd behavior in front of her.

3. California: Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra resigned in November after allegations that he had kissed or groped multiple women without their consent.

4. Florida: Sen. Jack Latvala resigned effective Jan. 5 following allegations of sexual misconduct raised by multiple women.

5. Minnesota: Sen. Dan Schoen resigned effective Dec. 15 following several allegations from women.

6. Minnesota: Rep. Tony Cornish resigned effective Nov. 30 following several allegations, including from a lobbyist who said he repeatedly propositioned her for sex.

7. Mississippi: Rep. John Moore resigned in December after multiple women made complaints against him. The House speaker's office said he had been facing an investigation led by an outside lawyer.

8. Nevada: Sen. Mark Manendo resigned in July after a law firm concluded he violated the Legislature's anti-harassment policy and behaved inappropriately toward female staffers and lobbyists.

9. Ohio: Sen. Clifford Hite resigned in October after being accused of sexually harassing a female state employee.

10. Oklahoma: Rep. Dan Kirby resigned in February after two former assistants alleged he sexually harassed them, including one with whom he had reached a confidential wrongful-termination settlement that included a $44,500 payment from House funds.

11. Oklahoma: Sen. Ralph Shortey resigned in March and later pleaded guilty to a federal charge of child sex trafficking after being accused of hiring a 17-year-old boy for sex.

12. Oklahoma: Sen. Bryce Marlatt resigned in September after being charged with sexual battery for allegedly groping an Uber driver who picked him up from a restaurant in the capital city.

13. South Dakota: Rep. Mathew Wollmann resigned in January 2017 after admitting to sexual contact with two interns, which a legislative panel said was a violation of rules.

photo Rep. Mark Lovell

14. Tennessee: Rep. Mark Lovell resigned in February as a House ethics panel concluded that he had violated the Legislature's sexual harassment policy.

OTHER ACTIONS

1. Arizona: Rep. Don Shooter, suspended in November as chairman of the appropriations committee pending an external investigation into allegations that he sexually harassed a female colleague.

2. California: Sen. Tony Mendoza, agreed Jan. 3 to take a one-month paid leave of absence during an investigation into allegations that he behaved inappropriately with three young women who worked for him.

3. Colorado: Rep. Steve Lebsock, replaced Jan. 9 as chairman of the House Local Government Committee after allegations he sexually harassed a female lawmaker.

4. Illinois: Sen. Ira Silverstein, resigned in November as majority caucus chairman after a victims rights advocate publicly accused him of sending inappropriate messages to her.

5. Kentucky: House Speaker Jeff Hoover, resigned from his leadership post Jan. 8 after secretly settling a sexual harassment complaint with a female legislative aide and acknowledging he sent inappropriate text messages to her.

6. Kentucky: Rep. Jim DeCesare, removed from a legislative committee chairmanship in November after signing a secret sexual harassment settlement.

7. Kentucky: Rep. Brian Linder, removed from a legislative committee chairmanship in November after signing a secret sexual harassment settlement.

8. Kentucky: Rep. Michael Meredith, removed from a legislative committee chairmanship in November after signing a secret sexual harassment settlement.

9. Massachusetts: Senate President Stan Rosenberg, stepped aside in December from his leadership position pending an investigation by an independent law firm. The firm is looking into whether he violated any rules following a media report alleging that his husband sexually abused several men, including some who had dealings with the Legislature.

10. New Mexico: Sen. Michael Padilla, ousted in December as Democratic majority whip by the caucus after decade-old allegations that he had sexually harassed women in a prior job. Padilla also dropped out of the lieutenant governor's race.

11. New York: Assemblyman Steven McLaughlin, formally sanctioned in November by a legislative ethics panel after allegations that he asked a female legislative staffer for nude photos and leaked her name when she filed a harassment complaint.

12. Oklahoma: Rep. Will Fourkiller, advised in February to get sensitivity training and blocked from interacting with the Legislature's page program for a year after being accused of making inappropriate comments to a high school page in 2015.

13. Oregon: Sen. Jeff Kruse, removed from committees in October and told in a letter from the Senate president not to touch women after new accusations that he had inappropriately touched female colleagues. He faces an ongoing Senate investigation.

14. Pennsylvania: Sen. Daylin Leach, announced in December that he will "step back" from his campaign for a congressional seat after allegations that he behaved inappropriately toward female employees and campaign aides. Also facing a call from Gov. Tom Wolf to resign.

15. Washington: Rep. Matt Manweller, resigned as assistant floor leader and was removed as ranking member of a House committee in December. Manweller also was placed on paid leave from his job as a political science professor at Central Washington University and barred from contacting past and present students while the university investigates allegations of sexual harassment against him.

16. Wisconsin: Rep. Josh Zepnick, removed from legislative committees in December after being accused of kissing two women against their will at political events several years ago.

ALSO OF NOTE

1. Idaho: Rep. James Holtzclaw, accused in a complaint of making inappropriate comments to at least two people during the 2017 session.

2. Pennsylvania: Rep. Tom Caltagirone, facing calls by Gov. Tom Wolf to resign after reports that House Democrats authorized paying about $250,000 to settle a sexual harassment claim from a legislative assistant against Caltagirone in 2015.

3. Rhode Island: Rep. Teresa Tanzi, publicly alleged in October that a more senior legislator had suggested that sexual favors would allow her bills to go further, but Tanzi has not publicly identified the lawmaker.

4. Florida: Sen. Jeff Clemens, resigned in October after an extramarital affair with a lobbyist. The House speaker had said that because a lobbyist is dependent on legislators, "the facts here raise a very real question of sexual harassment."

5. Kentucky: Rep. Dan Johnson killed himself in December, just days after being publicly accused of sexually assaulting a teenage girl in 2013.

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