California Democrat Assemblyman won’t run again amid harassment allegations
Raul Bocanegra, now the former Majority Whip, won’t run for re-election, despite calls for him to #ResignNow after 6 women come forward.
Yesterday, Professor Jacobson noted that the long-overdue purge of sex predators from the progressive body politic, following the defeat of enabler supreme Hillary Clinton, has begun.
As I noted in a previous post, the Democrats in Sacramento are scrambling to address allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. The West Coast purge has now claimed an Assemblyman.
Democratic Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra, who represents the San Fernando Valley, announced Monday that he will not seek re-election and will immediately resign his position as majority whip ahead of a story accusing him of multiple allegations of sexual harassment.
…“I spent my life advocating for the Northeast Valley, fighting for a fair share for our communities and residents,” Bocanegra said in a statement to the Times Monday. “It is because of my deep commitment to you, residents of the 39th Assembly District, that I have made the decision to resign from the State Assembly, effective September 1, 2018, and immediately resign my leadership position. I am also suspending my campaign and will not run for re-election.”
The action comes on the heels of news that the Los Angeles Times was preparing a story reporting that six women have accused Bocanegra, now the former Majority Whip of the state Assembly, of sexual harassment and inappropriate contact.
The paper presented its findings to Bocanegra’s office Friday afternoon.
The Times reported last month that in 2009, Bocanegra was disciplined in a human resources investigation. A female Capitol staffer accused Bocanegra, then a chief of staff, of “inappropriate and unwelcome physical contact.”
Here is a sample of Bocanegra’s reported behavior:
Late one August night in 2010 at a bar, Sylvia Castillo slid into a booth next to Raul Bocanegra, who was then the chief of staff to California Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes. Bocanegra was a familiar face to Castillo, who worked as a coordinator for a student mentorship program in Sacramento.
She asked if he had seen a friend she was looking for and made small talk. Suddenly, “he pounced,” she said.
“He grabbed me with one hand, grabbed my head and shoved his tongue into my mouth,” Castillo said in an interview this month. “With his other hand, he put it up my dress. I put my hand down to stop him from trying to grab at my crotch.”
Not surprisingly, the state’s Democrat Party leadership and the accused politico have decided that California voters will best be served…by Bocanegra remaining as a representative until his term ends, and not by resigning or by being expelled.
“These allegations are extremely disturbing, especially since they come after Mr. Bocanegra had previously been investigated and disciplined as a staff member and agreed to stop any harassing or abusive behavior,” [Assembly Speaker Anthony] Rendon, D-Paramount, said in a statement. “The decision to deny constituents the representation of their elected official can be a difficult one, but make no mistake: If the investigation affirms the allegations, I will move to immediately expel Mr. Bocanegra from the Assembly.”
To be fair to California, a lot of Bocanegra’s constituents do not desire this type of representation continuing:
@AsmBocanegra you are not the victim, you are the perpetrator who’s victimized untold #’s of women & girls & brought shame to the people you purported to represent. Don’t wait till 2018. Leave now. #WeSaidEnough #MeToo #IBelieveYou https://t.co/KrNmAYl0w0
— Cristina Garcia (@AsmGarcia) November 20, 2017
@ArthurCSchaper #metoo #RaulBocanegra #resign #TedLieu #caleg Rules Committee failed to protect women. https://t.co/yvC432W9yl
— Sylvia Robles (@sylrobles) October 31, 2017
The California Legislative Women’s Caucus was cutting in its assessment of the “resignation”.
“As members of the Legislature, we unequivocally condemn Assemblyman Bocanegra and Assemblyman Mathis’ alleged actions and call upon our leadership to review their—and any other members’—behavior that render them unfit to hold office and immediately enforce, for once, the bodies’ zero-tolerance policies.”
The Los Angeles Daily News also called for Bocanegra’s resignation:
Bocanegra’s political career, and the interests of the political establishment, have benefited significantly from the withholding of serious, disturbing misconduct by Bocanegra. This cannot continue. While Bocanegra has apologized for his conduct, we believe the best way for him to serve the public at this point is to resign from office.
I suspect that there will be more California purging in the near future.
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Comments
Its a hoot watching these idiots getting spitted on the that which they created … And they can offer no defense as its the seriousness of the charge as Rush likes to point out
With their great number of sleazy offenders, the D’Rats should start creating Sexual Harassers Caucuses in the various legislatures, including the U.S. Congress. Who knows, there may be enough of them to have some serious political weight.
especially the U.S. Congress.
Conyers and Franken can be the voice of experience 😉
why is he STILL working on the taxpayers dim and not sitting in a jail cell awaiting trial ?
oh, I forgot he just needs to go to ‘rehab’ in Vegas and all is forgiven. If his constituents want him out, start a recall petition – otherwise we know what’s important to the ‘voters’ of his district.
There are bigger fish in the net… According to Buzzed Conyers has paid money to settle harassment claims.
Well, if you are willing to put up with this type of behavior for monetary gain, then you lose credibility when you bring it up years later. If you choose to remain a “victim”, that is your choice. But, I have a problem getting all worked up about charges of “inappropriate contact” which are seven years old. I thought that after the 1980s we had empowered women to come forward when blatant sexual harassment occurred, especially in the workplace. We have strong laws against such activity as well as shield laws for the victims who report it. So, claiming fear of reprisal is kind of lame.
Now, according to studies, 40% of workers have engaged in an office romance and that office romances are the most likely relationship to result in marriage. Also, studies have found that the biggest reason why businesses attempt to limit on-the-job romance is because of negative feelings displayed by participants [most generally the woman] following the dissolution of an office romance and reduced moral of co-workers if the subordinate part of a hierarchical relationship [employee with supervisor or boss] gains promotion or preferential treatment. Finally we have the reasons why a worker enters into an office romance. They are usually identified as love, ego or job security and/or advancement. Participants in one study identified the leading reason for most women to engage in such romances was perceived to be job advancement or security, while it was perceived that men were driven more by love or ego. This also explains why women are more likely to engage in a relationship with a person in a superior position within the company and why men are more likely to enter a relationship with a subordinate woman.
Sorry i down arrowed you , i was trying to hit the reply marker. We only hear about the disappointed women, not the ones that got what they were trying to get, what ever that might have been.
Calling all pigs, suiee, suiee.