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Northam Tries Bipartisanship In Virginia

December 17, 2017 at 9:16 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Virginia Gov.-elect Ralph Northam (D) “has the weight of a Democratic landslide to throw around in the State Capitol, but he’s holding back,” the Washington Post reports.

“He could pluck a few Republicans out of the General Assembly — where the GOP is holding onto the majority by a thread — and give them jobs in his Cabinet to tilt the balance of power toward Democrats. He could try to ram through a broad expansion of Medicaid and other Democratic priorities.”

“But Northam says he is not looking to vanquish the other side.”

Woman Says Wyoming Official Assaulted Her as a Teen

December 14, 2017 at 4:45 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wyoming Secretary of State Ed Murray (R), who is considering a run for governor, is accused by a former intern of wrestling her to the office floor and ejaculating on her stomach, the Casper Star Tribune reports.

Tatiana Maxwell “detailed the alleged assault in a social media post earlier this week and confirmed the events in a Thursday phone interview with the Star-Tribune.”

Kentucky Lawmaker Kills Himself

December 13, 2017 at 9:52 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Kentucky state Rep. Dan Johnson (R), who was under investigation for alleged sexual molestation of a teenage girl, died of a “probable suicide,” WDRB reports.

He left what appears to be a suicide note on Facebook.

Lawmaker Won’t Resign Over Sexual Assault Allegations

December 12, 2017 at 3:07 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Although leaders from both political parties called on him to resign, Kentucky Rep. Dan Johnson (R) said that an allegation he sexually assaulted a teenage girl four years ago “absolutely has no merit,” WLKY reports.

Johnson is accused of sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl at a New Year’s Eve party while he was acting as her preacher.

The alleged victim detailed her story to Louisiana Public Media.

FBI Investigating Cuomo’s Hiring Practices

December 11, 2017 at 1:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The FBI is investigating Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s (D) “practice of hiring employees to work in the governor’s office while actually paying them through various state agencies and public authorities,” the Albany Times Union reports.

“Hiring pricey political appointees to work for the Executive Chamber — but paying them through other entities — has allowed Cuomo and prior governors to increase the size of their staffs while escaping criticism for inflating the Executive Chamber budget.”

Bonus Quote of the Day

December 11, 2017 at 10:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As long as I’m secretary of state of Alabama, you’re going to have to show some initiative to become a registered voter in this state.”

— Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill (R), quoted by Mother Jones.

Gay Man Will Run Against Clerk Who Denied Him License

December 6, 2017 at 3:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

David Ermold, a gay man who was denied a marriage license by Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis (R), will run to unseat her in 2018, WKLC reports.

“In the two years since then, things have quieted down in this Appalachian town. But last month, Davis announced she would run for re-election and face voters for the first time since refusing to issue the licenses. Three other people have also filed to run against her.”

Lawmaker Caught on Camera Making Anti-Gay Remarks

December 6, 2017 at 9:17 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Pennsylvania state Rep. Daryl Metcalfe (R) snapped at a fellow lawmaker during a meeting of committee chairs, WTAE reports.

Said Metcalfe: “Rep. Bradford, look, I’m a heterosexual. I have a wife, I love my wife, I don’t like men as you might but stop touching me all the time. Keep your hands to yourself. If you want to touch someone, you have people on your side of the aisle who might like it. I don’t.”

Men Allege Sexual Misconduct by Politician’s Husband

November 30, 2017 at 3:30 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Four men accuse Bryon Hefner, the husband of Massachusetts state Senate President Stan Rosenberg (D), of sexually assaulting and harassing them, the Boston Globe reports.

Here’s one of the stories:

He was a policy advocate who made his living trying to persuade legislators on Beacon Hill to help nonprofit groups. He was exhausted after a working dinner with a group of senators and their spouses on that fall night in 2015. It was very late, and he wanted nothing more than to sleep.

But Bryon Hefner, then the fiance of Senate President Stan Rosenberg, appeared in his doorway. As the advocate recently described it, Hefner took a step forward, grabbed the man’s genitals, and didn’t let go. He recalled Hefner asking him to have some fun with him, telling him Rosenberg wouldn’t mind, that Hefner and the Senate president were a team on Beacon Hill, and that they would take care of him.

The advocate froze. He felt violated, powerless.

Chaos In Virginia House After Wrong Ballots Given

November 27, 2017 at 6:49 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“A Democratic tidal wave on Election Day in Virginia three weeks ago has left chaos in its wake, with control of the House of Delegates still undecided and no end in sight to the dispute,” the AP reports.

“Lawsuits, threats and recriminations are flying as the state wrestles with the tricky question of what to do about the 147 voters in and around a crucial district who were given the wrong ballots.”

Virginia GOP Seeks to End Gendered Titles

November 23, 2017 at 9:28 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“With Virginia’s first openly transgender elected official preparing to take her seat in the House of Delegates, the Republican leader of that chamber says it is time to end a tradition of addressing lawmakers by formal male and female pronouns,” the Washington Post reports.

“Instead of the ‘gentleman’ or ‘gentlewoman’ from a given jurisdiction, lawmakers will all be referred to as “delegate” if Republicans maintain control of the chamber.”

“Conservative lawmakers hailed the change as a way to avoid what they said could be a potentially awkward situation. But one of the longest-serving House Democrats called the decision ‘shameful’ and said lawmakers ‘ought to be big enough to get over these hang-ups we have.'”

Two Minnesota Lawmakers Resign After Claims

November 22, 2017 at 7:09 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Minneapolis Star Tribune: “A pair of Minnesota state lawmakers — one a DFL senator, the other a Republican representative — announced Tuesday that they will resign from office in the wake of sexual harassment allegations. Word of the resignations of Sen. Dan Schoen and Rep. Tony Cornish came within two hours of each other, capping a stunning sequence of events that vividly demonstrated a new awareness of what many insiders say has been a long-standing tolerance of mistreatment of women working at Minnesota’s Capitol. Both men had been under pressure from leaders of their parties to resign.”

New Mexico Democrats Mandate Harassment Training

November 21, 2017 at 12:17 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The Democratic Party of New Mexico says its political candidates will need to complete sexual harassment prevention training to receive campaign support from the party in 2018 elections, the AP reports.

Ohio Anti-Gay Lawmaker Led Secret Gay Life

November 19, 2017 at 8:11 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“In public, Wesley Goodman (R) was an up-and-coming conservative who championed pro-family and anti-LGBT causes and aspired to someday run for Congress,” the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

“In private, he exchanged salacious texts and emails with gay men he met on Capitol Hill, and sent sexually suggestive messages to young men he met through conservative circles who were too intimidated to publicly complain.”

“Goodman’s double life ended this week when he resigned from the Ohio legislature after House Speaker Cliff Rosenberger was alerted to Goodman’s involvement in ‘inappropriate behavior’ with a man in his state office in Columbus.”

Inside Scott Walker’s Comeback Strategy

November 15, 2017 at 8:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

After two years of mending fences after a failed presidential bid, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “has clawed his way back. His numbers have inched up each of the past four quarters, and his approval rating is now back in the mid-to-high 40s,” according to James Hohmann.

“As the GOP primaries continued without him from New Hampshire to South Carolina and beyond, Walker convened the first of more than 100 ‘listening sessions’ in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties. His advance team would set up two whiteboards in the front of every room. The governor would spend the first 20 minutes asking attendees to say something positive about the state, which he’d write down. Then he’d spend the next hour asking how Wisconsin could be better, filling up the second whiteboard. He tried to talk as little as possible.”

“The governor offered several concrete proposals in his budget around the themes that came up again and again, such as opioid abuse and broadband access, but he said the most important result of the sessions was conveying to Wisconsinites that he had not ‘moved on.'”

When You Harass a State Senator

November 14, 2017 at 9:20 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

From the Texas Tribune:

Early in her tenure in the state Senate, Wendy Davis remembers having a conversation at a political event with an older man who happened to be a recently elected, first-term House member. Unaware she was a fellow lawmaker, he reached forward, as though to pat her arm, and instead reached between her arm and breast and cupped her breast.

“It wasn’t an accidental brushing,” the former state senator said. “It was a purposeful touching of my breast.”

Davis told her colleagues in the House about the incident and “as a consequence of that, he had a challenge getting anything passed,” she said.

Finally, he apologized. But Davis, the Fort Worth Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2014 after serving in the state senate for six years, acknowledged that her position gave her a form of recourse not available to other women working in the Capitol.

What Is Kansas Trying to Hide?

November 13, 2017 at 12:22 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Kansas runs one of the most secretive state governments in the nation, and its secrecy permeates nearly every aspect of service, the Kansas City Star found in a months-long investigation.”

“From the governor’s office to state agencies, from police departments to business relationships to health care, on the floors of the House and Senate, a veil has descended over the years and through administrations on both sides of the political aisle.”

Bevin Calls for Resignations In Wake of Scandal

November 5, 2017 at 10:59 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin (R), making his first public comments on a sexual harassment scandal that has rocked the state House of Representatives, called for “the immediate resignation of every individual who has settled a sexual harassment case, who is a party to trying to hide this type of behavior,” the Lexington Herald Leader reports.

Said Bevin: “These alleged actions, which haven’t been denied, are reprehensible, indefensible and unacceptable. Any elected official or state employee who has settled a sexual harassment claim should resign immediately. The people of Kentucky deserve better. We appropriately demand a high level of integrity from our leaders, and will tolerate nothing less in our state.”

Kentucky House Speaker Jeff Hoover (R) and GOP leaders are accused of concealing sexual harassment allegations against Hoover and three other Republican legislators.