Mn. State Rep. Gauthier will not seak reelection

[TimothyC]

Disgraced rest stop sex: Rep. Kerry Gauthier will not seek re-election in wake of scandal
Minnesota lawmaker caught with pants down receiving ‘No strings attached’ oral sex from 17-year-old boy
By Erik Ortiz / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, August 22, 2012, 8:36 PM


A disgraced Minnesota lawmaker who police say had oral sex in a rest stop with a 17-year-old boy admitted Wednesday to the “obvious tragic embarrassment” before ultimately declaring that he will not seek re-election.

Rep. Kerry Gauthier, 56, who represents the Duluth area in the state Legislature, had released an earlier statement defying Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party leaders by announcing he would stay in the race this fall. But, he had a change of heart, according to the Associated Press.

“I changed my mind,” he said. “Too much. It’s just too much.”

Gauthier, who is unmarried and is gay, said in an earlier news release in which he vowed to stay in the race that he is a “chemically dependent person and has been in recovery for over 30 years with one relapse,” reported ABC affiliate KSTP.

The first-term legislator didn’t detail his “chemical” dependency nor indicate that he would leave office before January. He was hospitalized last week as the scandal broke, and told the AP that he overdosed on muscle relaxants in a suicide attempt.

“I also need to recommit myself to my sobriety program,” he said in his earlier statement.

He doesn’t plant to attend a Friday special session of the House of Representatives to vote on flood-relief aid for his district, which was affected in June by flash flooding.

“I just think it would be a distraction,” Gauthier told the AP.

In his earlier statement, he apologized to his family, friends and constituents who were blindsided by his rest stop rendezvous.

“I know I made a mistake and am determined to make amends as best I can. I am a better person than this incident would indicate and will try to demonstrate this with my future behavior,” Gauthier wrote. “I can change my behavior but I cannot change the fact that I am a gay man and have known so since I was in college. I simply must act as a mature gay man would act and not as this incident portrays me.”

According to police, Gauthier wrote an ad on Craigslist soliciting “no strings attached” sex, and met with a 17-year-old behind a Duluth rest-area building on July 22.

Authorities decided not to charge the lawmaker because the legal age of consent in Minnesota is 16 and no money was exchanged, according to reports.

The Duluth News Tribune said a trooper found Gauthier with the zipper of his pants down and part of his shirt hanging out.

After the scandal broke, Democractic leaders called for him to withdraw his re-election bid, although they didn’t call for him to step down as at least one prominent Republican has demanded.

State election officials have said Gauthier can’t be replaced on the ballot, which would mean a write-in campaign for a replacement that would be much harder to win.

With News Wire Services

So a Live boy can still kill a political career

[Simon_Jester]

I think this deserves a title that identifies it as a sex scandal.

This reminds me- I'd really be interested to see a breakdown of gay sex scandals by party; the stereotype is of Republican congressmen, but it's got to be both to some degree.

[Skgoa]

There would be a selection bias at work, though. Dems are far more likely to be openly gay and/or at least have connections to the LGBT world that would make secret craigslist sex meetings unnecessary. I mean, let's face it: this wouldn't really be that noteworthy, if it were just "normal" infidelity between consenting adults.


Also, slightly OT: if I were a democrat political operative, I would spend quite a lot of effort on entraping republican politicians this way...

[TheHammer]

There would be a selection bias at work, though. Dems are far more likely to be openly gay and/or at least have connections to the LGBT world that would make secret craigslist sex meetings unnecessary. I mean, let's face it: this wouldn't really be that noteworthy, if it were just "normal" infidelity between consenting adults.

I disagree. Infidelity, when exposed to the public, has always been a big deal regarding politicians. Clinton, Spitzer, Mark Sanford, Gingrich, John Edwards - it was all "noteworthy".

[Elfdart]

I think this deserves a title that identifies it as a sex scandal.

This reminds me- I'd really be interested to see a breakdown of gay sex scandals by party; the stereotype is of Republican congressmen, but it's got to be both to some degree.

Most of the Dem scandals revolve around females -at least the ones that get publicity. I don't know of any actual surveys but let's face it, every time a Democrat gets caught screwing around Faux News and right-wing radio are all over it like Old Navy on white trash. The last Democrat who got publicity for banging dudes was Barney Frank and that was 20 years ago, so I should think the well is pretty dry on that score. It helps that Democrats are more tolerant of homosexuals.

Republicans: let's face it, when you're stuck pandering to church biddies, fag-baiters, slut-shamers and others with a revulsion for the human body in general and sex in particular you're in a very tight spot. Repressed urges have a habit of bursting out in unhealthy ways. Remember John McCain's campaign manager in Florida -the one caught offering to blow an undercover cop in a men's room? I'm fairly certain that if he spent most of his time among people who aren't homophobes, he could have indulged his desire to suck a dick in a way that wouldn't have gotten him arrested and humiliated.

Or take Senator Vitter, who hires hookers to dress him up in a diaper and beat him. I'm sure that if he was a Democrat, his adultery would be of the ho-hum variety: banging secretaries, getting blown by interns, etc.