Farenthold won’t seek reelection amid allegations of sexual harassment
By Elise Viebeck and Mike DeBonis December 14 at 11:27 AM

A congressman under scrutiny for allegations that he sexually harassed female staff members and created a hostile work environment will not seek reelection next year, according to four Republicans familiar with his plans.

Rep. Blake Farenthold (R-Tex.), who settled a complaint with his former communications director but has denied wrongdoing, plans to serve out the rest of his term but will not seek reelection in 2018. His decision makes him the latest lawmaker to fall due to allegations of misconduct as Congress grapples with how to address what some aides have described as a culture of inappropriate behavior on Capitol Hill.

“I spoke with his campaign manager, and he confirmed Blake will not run for reelection,” said Mike Bergsma, chairman of the Nueces County, Tex., Republican Party, in a short phone interview.

Three other Republicans confirmed Farenthold’s plans on condition of anonymity.

Farenthold’s pending retirement comes after voters rejected Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore in a special election Tuesday night. Moore allegedly pursued romantic relationships with teenage girls, including a 14-year-old, while in his 30s. His loss was a major victory for Democrats, putting the party one seat closer to regaining its Senate majority.
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Thursday called on Farenthold to resign immediately, describing the latest reports as “shocking and unacceptable.”

She was asked again about the status of Rep. Ruben Kihuen (D-Nev.), who faced new accusations of improper conduct on Wednesday but has refused to step down despite pressure from Pelosi and the head of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

The Nevada Independent, a Las Vegas-based news outlet, on Wednesday published the anonymous account of a female lobbyist who received unwanted sexual advances by Kihuen from 2013 to 2015 when he was a state senator. Kihuen repeatedly reached out to the woman over social media, according to the report.

A spokesman for the Texas Secretary of State said Farenthold missed the deadline to withdraw from his district’s primary race, so his name will likely remain on the ballot. “Barring any challenge to the candidate’s application before the mail-in ballots go out in late January, his name will still be on the ballot for the March 6 Primary,” Sam Taylor emailed.The decision came after a series of unflattering news stories about Farenthold, a fourth-term congressman who is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for his behavior toward Lauren Greene, with whom he reached a settlement in 2014.

CNN reported Wednesday that another former aide, Michael Rekola, approached the Ethics Committee with allegations Farenthold was verbally abusive and sexually demeaning to aides.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/power...92a_story.html