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Lawmaker in Texas Resigns Before He Can Be Expelled

GOP Rep. Bryan Slaton is accused of inappropriate sexual conduct with a 19-year-old

(Newser) - A Republican Texas state lawmaker resigned Monday ahead of an expected vote to expel him after an investigation found he had inappropriate sexual conduct with a 19-year-old intern, per the AP . The resignation letter of Rep. Bryan Slaton, 45, did not address the allegations. “I look forward to spending...

Rep Who Spoke Up for Trans Rights Faces Expulsion

GOP has frozen Montana Rep. Zooey Zephyr from speaking after 'blood on their hands' remark

(Newser) - Montana Republican leaders will vote Wednesday on censuring or expelling lawmaker Zooey Zephyr, a transgender state representative who's been silenced in the House since last week after telling colleagues that if they voted for a bill to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender children, they'd "have blood...

GOP Lawmaker Rants Against 'Demon' Transgender People

Florida Rep. Webster Barnaby got pushback from both Dems, Republicans after 'mutant' remarks

(Newser) - On Monday, a legislative hearing was held in Florida over the Safety in Private Spaces Act , which would bar anyone from using a restroom if it didn't match the sex they'd been assigned at birth. Comments from one particular lawmaker, however, stunned colleagues on both sides of the...

Here's What Didn't Get Tennessee Lawmakers Fired

GOP leaders have blocked attempts to punish their members

(Newser) - The Tennessee House chamber where Republicans expressed outrage this week at a breach in decorum was filled daily, for years, by the sound of their colleague ringing a cowbell to mask the lack of applause. A lawmaker's office chair was urinated on by a fellow Republican, a reporter who...

Tennessee Dems Face Expulsion for Gun Reform Chants

Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, Justin Pearson accused of 'disorderly behavior'

(Newser) - Three Democrats in Tennessee are on the verge of being ousted from the state House after leading protesters in chants in support of gun control. Reps. Gloria Johnson, Justin Jones, and Justin Pearson approached the podium between bills on Thursday without being recognized to speak, USA Today reports. Using a...

Texas Lawmaker Investigated After All Staffers Resign

They allege State Rep. Jolanda Jones was demanding and 'physically threatening'

(Newser) - Texas State. Rep. Jolanda "Jo" Jones is facing an investigation after her entire staff resigned Thursday, levying a host of allegations against the freshman Democrat. In a leaked resignation letter, Chief of Staff Kory Haywood, Legislative Director Catherine Mouer, and District Director Yesenia Wences describe an "abusive and...

Lawmaker: 'You Can't Detain Me.' Cop: Well, Actually...

Police: Oklahoma Rep. Dean Davis wouldn't leave bar, claimed his arrest was unconstitutional

(Newser) - What's going on in Oklahoma? Earlier this month, a police captain there arrested on suspicion of DUI asked, in vain, for the officer who'd pulled him over to turn off his bodycam . Now, another incident in which more cops from the Sooner State faced a similarly confrontational dilemma...

After Vote on School Discipline: 'It's 1880 in Here'

Bill in Oklahoma House on barring corporal punishment against disabled students fails

(Newser) - It was a close vote in the Oklahoma state House this week, but a measure to bar teachers and staff from using corporal punishment against kids with disabilities failed. Despite GOP Rep. John Talley's best efforts to advance HB1028, which would've kept educators from hitting, spanking, paddling, or...

Lawmaker Censured for 'Despicable' Child Abuse Remark

Alaska Rep. David Eastman suggested at hearing there may be a cost 'benefit' if child dies from abuse

(Newser) - Very few people would try to find some sort of silver lining in cases where a child died from abuse. Rep. David Eastman is apparently one of those people, however, and he's now taking flak for his comments made earlier this week in that vein. Per the Anchorage Daily ...

Lawmaker's Transgender Son Dies by Suicide

Kentucky legislator says difficulty finding acceptance led to mental illness

(Newser) - A Kentucky state senator said Tuesday that her transgender son, a trans rights advocate on whom "a lack of acceptance took a toll," has died by suicide. He was 24. Democratic Sen. Karen Berg said her son Henry Berg-Brousseau "long struggled with mental illness, not because he...

Cops: Crash That Killed Ind. Pol Caused by Staffer's Driving

Police: Zachery Potts was attempting to get by truck in crash that killed Rep. Jackie Walorski

(Newser) - A staffer for US Rep. Jackie Walorski was trying to pass a flatbed truck on a northern Indiana highway last month when the SUV they were in crashed into an oncoming car, killing Walorski and three other people, police said Friday. A witness traveling behind the SUV told investigators it...

Lawmaker Tries to Pants Referee at Son's Game

'I was bad wrong,' says Tennessee Rep. Jeremy Faison

(Newser) - One of Tennessee's most powerful Republican lawmakers has apologized for his "completely stupid" behavior at his son's high school basketball game earlier this week—which included trying to pull down a referee's pants. The attempted pantsing of ref Paul Pendleton happened near the end of the...

Calls to Resign for Young Lawmaker After 2 Arrests

Democratic Kan. state Rep. Aaron Coleman busted for drunk driving after past domestic-battery arrest

(Newser) - A 21-year-old embattled Kansas lawmaker was arrested on suspicion of drunken driving—his second arrest in less than a month—and is facing fresh calls for his resignation or removal from office. A Kansas trooper arrested Aaron Coleman around 1am Saturday on Interstate 70 near Lawrence, the Kansas Highway Patrol...

Ex-Lawmaker Claimed Relative Was Killed. Now She's Dead, Too

Mississippi's Ashley Henley shot at property where sister-in-law was found dead

(Newser) - A former Mississippi state lawmaker was murdered Sunday outside a burned-out trailer where her sister-in-law was found dead only months ago. Ashley Henley—a Republican who represented District 40, including parts of DeSoto County, from 2016 to 2020—was shot and killed while mowing the grass outside the trailer in...

As Kemp Signed Bill She Knocked on His Door, Got Arrested

Rep. Park Cannon was protesting election legislation

(Newser) - A Black Democratic state lawmaker was arrested in Atlanta as she tried to witness Georgia's governor sign into law new voting restrictions in the state. Per the Atlanta Journal-Constitution , Rep. Park Cannon was at the state Capitol on Thursday, right outside the office where Gov. Brian Kemp was putting...

Lawmaker Who Let Rioters Into State Capitol Faces the Music

Oregon Rep. Mike Nearman was seen letting in demonstrators during special legislative session

(Newser) - Another lawmaker is facing heat for a Capitol breach, this time in the Pacific Northwest. When far-right protesters descended on the Oregon Capitol on Dec. 21 during a special legislative session, surveillance video (available here via the Oregonian ) showed GOP Rep. Mike Nearman exiting through a side door, and...

California Lawmakers Defend Being in Maui Right Now

They say event at luxury hotel is to discuss how to 'safely reopen our society'

(Newser) - California lawmakers are defending their presence at a Hawaiian conference on "intelligent public policy" regarding COVID-19, but it appears they defied their home state's warnings to go. Four Republicans who attended the bipartisan event—state Sen. Andreas Borgeas and Assembly members Jordan Cunningham, Heath Flora, and Frank Bigelow—...

State Lawmaker, 6 Others Die in 'Unfathomable Tragedy'

2 planes collide over Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, killing Rep. Gary Knopp

(Newser) - Seven people, including an Alaska state lawmaker, died Friday when two small airplanes collided in midair near Soldotna, a small community on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. Alaska State Troopers said state Rep. Gary Knopp of Kenai, believed to be in his early 60s, was the sole occupant of one plane....

Illinois Lawmaker's Refusal to Wear Mask Has Consequences

State Rep. Darren Bailey is pulled from the legislative session

(Newser) - The Illinois House voted to temporarily remove GOP Rep. Darren Bailey on Wednesday for refusing to wear a mask. Earlier Wednesday, the House had adopted a rule requiring attendees of the special session to wear a face covering over their nose and mouth, if medically able. "I will not,...

Armed Activists Take Black Lawmaker to Work

Rep. Sarah Anthony says she 'was pleased to receive the type of support'

(Newser) - Talk about an escort: Armed black activists walked a black lawmaker to work Wednesday in Michigan, the Guardian reports. Rep. Sarah Anthony (D-Lansing) was accompanied by six people—some of them armed, one Hispanic—on her trip to the state Capitol building. "Being a black and brown female Democrat...

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