CT-05: Rep. Esty retiring after top aide's abuse allegations

[choclatechip45]

Mark Meadows had a similar scandal with his chief of staff. Interesting how he goes unscathed yet people think Esty should resign over this.

[choclatechip45]

Mark Meadows had a similar scandal with his chief of staff. Interesting how he goes unscathed yet people think Esty should resign over this.

I'm from CT and have family in the district. Who is Mark Meadows?

I'm from CT also and the CT GOP kept a child molester on their payroll. Interesting how no one cares about that. Mark Meadows is a congressman from NC who is  the chairman of the Freedom Caucus

https://www.thedailybeast.com/ex-mark-meadows-aide-says-sexual-harassment-in-congressmans-office-was-known-earlier-than-reported

https://www.politico.com/story/2016/08/kenny-west-mark-meadows-harassment-227115

https://ethics.house.gov/sites/ethics.house.gov/files/OCE%20Report%20and%20Findings_0.pdf

[choclatechip45]

“Esty admitted to media outlets that she wrote a positive recommendation letter for Baker and entered into a nondisclosure agreement at what she said was the recommendation of the Office of House Employment Counsel.“

Honestly, it sounds like the failures of an antiquated sexual harassment reporting system on Capitol Hill. She followed the recommendations of the House office responsible for dealing with issues like this.

Seems like if congress had an HR department none of this would happen.

[choclatechip45]

she needs to retire, but because she could get tied into the more local environment thanks to this scandal, which would make her more at risk of blowing the seat and harming CT dems overall.

I really don’t think the GOP is going to run an effective campaign railing against sexual harassment when Donald Trump is president. Esty is an entrenched incumbent in a Clinton seat, she’s safe regardless of this scandal.

Especially when the CT GOP kept a guy who bragged about bathing with a 5 year old on payroll after he was arrested.

[choclatechip45]

Someone who did this has no business remaining in the public trust. I said it re: Franken and re: Conyers and it's just as true now. If Etsy turned a blind eye to her chief of staff giving a woman death threats and hitting her, that's totally unacceptable.

Did you call for Mark Meadows resignation? His scandal with his chief off staff is the most similar to Esty's scandal.

[choclatechip45]

Someone who did this has no business remaining in the public trust. I said it re: Franken and re: Conyers and it's just as true now. If Etsy turned a blind eye to her chief of staff giving a woman death threats and hitting her, that's totally unacceptable.

Did you call for Mark Meadows resignation? His scandal with his chief off staff is the most similar to Esty's scandal.

What the hell is the point of calling for the resignation of someone from the opposite party? For example, I want Blake Farenthold gone and think it's insane that Farenthold got away with only not running for reelection rather than resigning, but your opinion doesn't really matter when you're talking about opposite party people.

Is this some sort of insane gotcha? Am I supposed to secretly be a Mark Meadows fan?

Whenever it’s a women politican involved they are held to a different standard. I find it interesting all these people want Esty to resign when Mark Meadows did something similar and nobody cares or calls for his resignation.

[choclatechip45]

For a fragile D+2 district, this could hurt her and make this race competitive if the CT GOP got their act together. She should not seek re-election.

They couldn’t win with Andrew Roraback in 2012 who was a very good candidate.

[choclatechip45]

If she doesn't resign she probably going to get primaried. The progressive activist groups in the state are pisseddddd, and she may not even get the Working Families Party nomination. Rumors are that some people who passed on the race are now looking into it, including some gubernatorial nominees. That being said this seat will most likely stay D is she resigns, however, I'd say by only 70/30 at this very moment. CT-05 is probably one of the only districts in the state where Dems have no star power or A-list/B-list candidate. Republicans do. Make of it what you will but in January the RNC had CT's generic ballot polling at 44/36-Dem. If the GOP gets a strong gubernatorial nominee, it could help the down ballot in this seat. This is the only consistently Republican district during midterms so we shall see. If she stays, I could see it being more harmful to the seat and state party overall, especially in the gubernatorial elections. I think the pressure for her to resign is more about keeping the seat than it is about taking a moral high ground.

By the way, I have been a member of the GOP state central committee for three years and can categorically say that when the former treasurer's situation was realized he was gone immediately. There was an emergency teleconference about it the day after the information was circulated. Way to cherry pick to fit your narrative. Pedophile and abuse have no party registration.

So why was he getting paid after he was arrested and planning the states 2016 convention? Esty has always been the weakest dem in CT congressional delegation. I just think it’s hypocritical to hold a women to a different standard than a man. Plus the CT gop only seems to care when a democrat is involved. They’ve been on silent about Steve Wynn, Roy Moore and trump.

[choclatechip45]

For a fragile D+2 district, this could hurt her and make this race competitive if the CT GOP got their act together. She should not seek re-election.

They couldn’t win with Andrew Roraback in 2012 who was a very good candidate.

Then again, this scandal against Esty wasn't out.

She wasn’t a strong candidate in 2012.

[choclatechip45]

If she doesn't resign she probably going to get primaried. The progressive activist groups in the state are pisseddddd, and she may not even get the Working Families Party nomination. Rumors are that some people who passed on the race are now looking into it, including some gubernatorial nominees. That being said this seat will most likely stay D is she resigns, however, I'd say by only 70/30 at this very moment. CT-05 is probably one of the only districts in the state where Dems have no star power or A-list/B-list candidate. Republicans do. Make of it what you will but in January the RNC had CT's generic ballot polling at 44/36-Dem. If the GOP gets a strong gubernatorial nominee, it could help the down ballot in this seat. This is the only consistently Republican district during midterms so we shall see. If she stays, I could see it being more harmful to the seat and state party overall, especially in the gubernatorial elections. I think the pressure for her to resign is more about keeping the seat than it is about taking a moral high ground.

By the way, I have been a member of the GOP state central committee for three years and can categorically say that when the former treasurer's situation was realized he was gone immediately. There was an emergency teleconference about it the day after the information was circulated. Way to cherry pick to fit your narrative. Pedophile and abuse have no party registration.

So why was he getting paid after he was arrested and planning the states 2016 convention? Esty has always been the weakest dem in CT congressional delegation. I just think it’s hypocritical to hold a women to a different standard than a man. Plus the CT gop only seems to care when a democrat is involved. They’ve been on silent about Steve Wynn, Roy Moore and trump.

Well, he wasn't. You are right that it is hypocritical that it is hypocritical for the CT GOP (to a degree), however many within the party have been open about their dismay with harassment in our own ranks.

The FEC filings says he paid by the CT GOP after he resigned. So are you saying the CT GOP had incorrect FEC filings? The CT GOP hasn't said anything when a GOP politician/RNC member is accused of harassment.

https://www.ctpost.com/local/article/Ex-state-GOP-treasurer-has-been-paid-4K-since-9178054.php

[choclatechip45]

If she doesn't resign she probably going to get primaried. The progressive activist groups in the state are pisseddddd, and she may not even get the Working Families Party nomination. Rumors are that some people who passed on the race are now looking into it, including some gubernatorial nominees. That being said this seat will most likely stay D is she resigns, however, I'd say by only 70/30 at this very moment. CT-05 is probably one of the only districts in the state where Dems have no star power or A-list/B-list candidate. Republicans do. Make of it what you will but in January the RNC had CT's generic ballot polling at 44/36-Dem. If the GOP gets a strong gubernatorial nominee, it could help the down ballot in this seat. This is the only consistently Republican district during midterms so we shall see. If she stays, I could see it being more harmful to the seat and state party overall, especially in the gubernatorial elections. I think the pressure for her to resign is more about keeping the seat than it is about taking a moral high ground.

By the way, I have been a member of the GOP state central committee for three years and can categorically say that when the former treasurer's situation was realized he was gone immediately. There was an emergency teleconference about it the day after the information was circulated. Way to cherry pick to fit your narrative. Pedophile and abuse have no party registration.

So why was he getting paid after he was arrested and planning the states 2016 convention? Esty has always been the weakest dem in CT congressional delegation. I just think it’s hypocritical to hold a women to a different standard than a man. Plus the CT gop only seems to care when a democrat is involved. They’ve been on silent about Steve Wynn, Roy Moore and trump.

Well, he wasn't. You are right that it is hypocritical that it is hypocritical for the CT GOP (to a degree), however many within the party have been open about their dismay with harassment in our own ranks.

The FEC filings says he paid by the CT GOP after he resigned. So are you saying the CT GOP had incorrect FEC filings? The CT GOP hasn't said anything when a GOP politician/RNC member is accused of harassment.

They had to catch up on medical payments for the dude that was outstanding, the guy was disabled. Ever heard of Erin Stweart? Mark Boughton? There are so many Republicans in the state that are anti-Trump, not publically, but to their constituents, voters, etc.

You said they didn't pay him after he resigned and yet they did. Now you are making excuses for why they paid him.  Mark Boughton said he voted for Trump. Erin Stewart said the CT GOP should listen to Trump and put her on the debate stage. How can you be anti-trump to voters, but not publicly? That makes no sense. You just made them sounds like cowards.

[choclatechip45]

choclatechip45, could she be primaried?

Absolutely. I think she is the weakest congressional dem with the grassroots. The filing deadline isn't until June. It will be interesting if Chris Donovan tries to run. He had some ethics issues in 2012, but was cleared from wrongdoing. Esty beat him in primary, but he is a favorite among the grassroots in the state.

[choclatechip45]

It's hard to see Esty remaining a member of Congress this time next year. The most likely outcome is probably her declining to run for reelection and serving out the rest of her term.

Yeah, this would be my bet. Who runs for this seat if she retires?

I feel like Donovan might. This district probably has the weakest bench for democrats in the state.

[choclatechip45]

This thread:

Some people: Esty should resign.
Esty defenders: Well what about these other people who did the same thing and didn't resign?
Some people: They're terrible and should resign too.
Esty defenders: ....

Seriously, don't even bother with whataboutisms as a defense.

You see my arguments as 'whataboutism'. I see your arguments as lunacy. There's little to no overlap between these mutually irreconcilable viewpoints.

"People who enable sexual harassment and abuse do not belong in public office" is "lunacy"?

Also I wasn't even referring to you, but the people who kept bringing up Mark Meadows and Andrew Cuomo (not to mention the bizarre mention of Franken, as he DID resign.)

I brought up Mark Meadows because it is the most similar case to Esty’s and Meadows is a lot more powerful than her in congress. If he introduced legislation to change the system so these terrible incidents  won’t happen in the future it would pass. Also I know someone who worked in Meadows office so it’s always amazed that it never got more publicity. I don’t care if Esty resings what she did was terrible the focus should be so this never happens again. Since both the Meadows incident and Esty incident would have been preventable if congress had an HR department. I except she will not run for re-election since the democrats in the state are calling for her to resign.

[choclatechip45]

No surprise. No way would the CT Dems let her run if they thought she would lose.

[choclatechip45]

*If* he gets in, Lean D --> Tilt R

https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/980915110159011847

They’ve recruited him almost every cycle. His reasoning has been he doesn’t want to spend time away from his wife and child. I believe his son is now 5.

[choclatechip45]

*If* he gets in, Lean D --> Tilt R

https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/980915110159011847

They’ve recruited almost every cycle. His reasoning has been he doesn’t want to spend time away from his wife and child. I believe his son is now 5.

That is true. He doesn’t seem like he’s partisan enough to become a nigh-absentee father just to give his party the chance to pickup a seat.

Yeah especially after everything he has been through. I wonder if Stewart will switch. I always thought if she lost the governors race/primary she would run for this seat.

[choclatechip45]

*If* he gets in, Lean D --> Tilt R

https://twitter.com/politicoalex/status/980915110159011847

They’ve recruited almost every cycle. His reasoning has been he doesn’t want to spend time away from his wife and child. I believe his son is now 5.

That is true. He doesn’t seem like he’s partisan enough to become a nigh-absentee father just to give his party the chance to pickup a seat.

Yeah especially after everything he has been through. I wonder if Stewart will switch. I always thought if she lost the governors race/primary she would run for this seat.

When’s the filing deadline? Sounds like a possibility if she doesn’t make the primary if it’s after the convention.

June 12th so after the convention. I don’t think she would make this race that competitive .

[choclatechip45]

I don't see why Stewart would throw away her statewide career trying to become a national politician. Maybe she would if it was expected to be a Republican year.

Who might run on the Democratic side?

Democratic bench in this district is kind of weak. I wonder if Chris Donovan will try he is very popular among the grassroots. Esty beat him in the 2012 primary.

[choclatechip45]

Looks like State Rep Michelle Cook might run. Never heard of her before.

https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Congresswoman-Esty-won-t-seek-re-election-12798866.php

[choclatechip45]

Mary Glassman declares she is running.
https://ctmirror.org/2018/04/02/mary-glassman-jumps-suddenly-open-5th-cd-race/

[choclatechip45]

I don't think people here realize the strength of Petit. This is a guy who defeated a nearly 20 year democratic incumbent, who won by almost 20 points in 2014. Not only did he beat her, he swamped her by over 20 points in a presidential election year.


That said, he won't run.

As someone who lives in CT I think he could win I just don’t think he will run like I said I earlier in the thread due to his comments in the past.

[choclatechip45]

DCCC is trying to recruit either Nicole Hockley or Mark Barden (co founders Sandy Hook Promise) to run for this seat. Only one would run.
https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/local/article/Nicole-Hockley-Mark-Barden-considering-run-for-12821770.php