Republicans Embrace Democratic Lawmaker Accused Of Sexual Harassment

NEW YORK ― Republican lawmakers in Colorado are embracing a Democratic colleague who quit his caucus this week after nearly a dozen women, including a female Democratic state representative, accused him of sexual harassment.

Eleven women ― including a former legislative aide, several lobbyists and fellow state Rep. Faith Winter (D) ― accused state Rep. Steve Lebsock (D) of sexual harassment in November. Winter, a married 37-year-old lawmaker, says Lebsock aggressively came on to her at a bar in 2016.

“I said ‘no’ five times to leaving the bar to go have sex with him,” Winter told HuffPost. “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.”

Lebsock denies the allegations, which are being formally investigated by House leadership. On Tuesday, the day before Colorado’s 2018 legislative session began, he sent his colleagues a bizarre 28-page manifesto defending himself and detailing the sexual history of one of his accusers. He offered an alibi for one of the incidents, in which he allegedly tried to unbutton a woman’s blouse at a bar, claiming that he was playing a “Ms. Pac-Man” arcade game that night and recorded a very high score.

The document did not win Lebsock any sympathy from his caucus. Several Democratic lawmakers, including Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran, wore black on the first day of the legislative session in protest and called for Lebsock to resign. Duran received a standing ovation when she told colleagues in her opening speech that “we must confront these issues head-on and successfully reform the culture of the Capitol.” State Rep. Matt Gray (D) said he would introduce a resolution to expel Lebsock from his seat.


https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/steve-lebsock-sexual-harassment_us_5a58f572e4b04f3c55a23e59?ncid=tweetlnkushpmg00000067