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Reader Poll: How Should Parties Handle Sexual Misconduct Vacancies?

A tidal wave of reckoning is sweeping across American culture. Politicians have featured prominently, with elected officials from both parties and in all levels of government facing allegations of sexual misconduct. The overwhelming majority of revelations focus on men who used their power to mistreat women.

Activists in both parties are thinking about what’s next and debating how political parties should respond. Should state parties compel local parties to nominate women?

Democrats: In Pennsylvania, party bylaws enable Democratic leadership to veto nominees for special elections to Congress and state House and Senate.

Republicans: The Pa. GOP does not have a veto power. However, the party and its campaign committees do wield influence in the candidate selection process (eg. with financial commitments).

When seats open up following sexual misconduct scandals, should state parties pressure locals to nominate women candidates?

When seats open up following sexual misconduct scandals, should state parties pressure locals to nominate women candidates?


  • No (70%)
  • Yes (30%)

Total Voters: 360

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12 Responses

  1. Democrats and Republicans will be shocked at the names
    and especially the attacks on the accusers by one very
    yellow legislator and his hatchet man. It’s a disgrace
    letting these guys collect a paycheck, but at these
    incidents will become public knowledge soon enough and we’ll
    never have to tolerate this pr*cks again.

    Let me say quite clearly that their political careers have
    ended once the story breaks in the Inquirer and elsewhere
    around the state. While I would LOVE to publicly name the
    characters who are the worst of the lot, insiders have
    heard the names and know what’s going on.

  2. Let the Witch hunt begin, Remember “meTOO’ it’s the men who pay for your campaigns. Democrats don’t need Republicans to beat them. They have women. I want to be a part of the (mans) world. I want to be treated equal. BTW please make special laws to protect me while I am being treated equal.

  3. I think the state legislature needs to make every elected official watch the South Park episode with “Sexual Harassment Panda”.

  4. JuanitaB-

    It’s A LOT more than rumors, and I’ve heard the same names (particularly of a big political fish) from very reliable sources. At this point, the names are practically an open-secret. My understanding is that one prominent elected legislator has about 18 different women who’ve complained. He’s complete toast, but is still madly fighting behind the scenes and hoping his lawyers can mitigate his exposure. (Hint: the harder he fights, the worse it’s going to be) There’s no way he avoids having to resign.

    I would LOVE to be the one to break this story, but I’ll leave that to the professionals. I do have several “quips” prepared for this individual, so stay tuned.

    1. Open secret indeed. This asshole is why the bill to ban non-disclosure agreements originated in the State Senate. His attack dog is already preparing a slander campaign against the women he abused.

      1. Witchhunter-

        If we are talking about the same person, it’s going to end very badly for him. Not sure which attack dog, but I heard that his main attack dog may have some complaints against him as well.

        The bigger they come, the harder they fall. If he had any f*cking brains, he’d resign now.

  5. Given the ridiculously low number of women in the PA legislature, this should apply to PA. Wouldn’t necessarily be needed at the national level.

  6. Yes, I think that is a FABULOUS idea. As soon as there is any such allegation, the accused men should be summarily executed. Such allegations should always be assumed to be true, of course no woman would ever make false allegations just because they didn’t like someone and wanted them removed from office, or because they wanted cash, or attention, or sympathy. It is only fair and just that men be presumed guilty unless they can prove themselves innocent. In fact, let’s just go ahead and throw all men out of office and in jail and replace them with women RIGHT NOW, we all know that all men are guilty of having some inappropriate sexual thought at some point in their lives. Don’t concern yourselves with that inconvenient anachronism called the Constitution. This is the U.S. in 2017 after all!

  7. Well, there is a swirl of rumors (actually a lot more than a swirl), that we’ll be dealing with this question in PA in the VERY near future. It’s going to be a sh*it-storm.

    1. Could have sworn America’s a nation of laws, not a nation of rumors. Who do you work for: ABC?

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    Total Voters: 30

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