Daily Local News (West Chester, PA)
Wolf: Sen. Leach should resign his post
Dem seeking to challenge Meehan under fire for conduct around women
PHILADELPHIA » Pennsylvania’s governor said Sunday that a state senator who represents portions of Montgomery and Delaware counties should resign over published allegations he behaved inappropriately toward women.
Gov. Tom Wolf’s call for Sen. Daylin Leach, D-17, to quit followed a story in the Philadelphia Inquirer quoting former campaign and legislative staffers and advisers who accused Leach, 56, of behavior ranging from highly sexualized jokes and comments to touching they considered inappropriate.
Wolf called Leach “a leader on important policy issues” but said “this conduct cannot be excused.”
Leach, a legislator since 2003, is seeking the Democratic nomination next year to oppose incumbent U.S. Rep. Pat Meehan, R-7, in the Philadelphia suburbs.
In a statement, Leach blamed the accusations on an unnamed political opponent and denied ever inappropriately touching women.
“I have brief discussions in public places literally dozens of times a day and of these incidents, I remember one not at all, and one only vaguely,” Leach said. “But they both allegedly occurred in crowded rooms with lots of people and cameras around. I was never alone with the women involved. And I never, in any way, intentionally or unintentionally, touched them inappropriately. It did not happen.”
Wolf was not the only one questioning Leach’s fitness for office.
The Delaware County Democratic Party Chairman David Landau released the following statement urging Leach to suspend his Congressional campaign in the wake of reports of unwelcome touching and sexually charged language and treatment by Sen. Leach:
“I am profoundly disturbed and disappointed in Sen. Leach’s conduct. Sen. Leach has been an outstanding legislator, a tireless fighter for progressive causes and staunch supporter of the Delaware County Democratic Party. But none of that can excuse his inappropriate conduct and the toxic environment he created. He should immediately suspend his congressional campaign. The statements of these individuals must be taken seriously and the state Senate must investigate these incidents promptly through an outside independent investigation.”
Drew McGinty, another
Democrat seeking the nomination to oppose Meehan, also called for Leach to resign from his office and get out of the race.
“I wholeheartedly believe the brave women and men who have come forward with their allegations against Sen. Leach,” McGinty said. “That’s why today, I am calling on state Sen. Leach to resign from
office and withdraw from the Democratic primary in Pennsylvania’s 7th District. This conduct is reprehensible from anyone, but when your job is to serve the good people of Pennsylvania, it is especially heinous. The 7th District deserves a nominee that will treat all women and men with respect, and it is clear that Sen. Leach is unable to do so.”
Aubrey Montgomery, a former finance director for Leach’s 2008 state senate campaign, told the paper she complained to Leach about a sexualized tone in the office that offended her.
“When I expressed my discomfort, Daylin suggested I just didn’t get the joke, labeled me a prude and characterized me to my colleagues as the campaign’s wet blanket,” she said. “The more uncomfortable Daylin made me, the more he would dial up the intensity. The more I expressed my discomfort at his sexual and off-color humor, the funnier it was to him.”
Montgomery has worked for a man running against Leach in the Democratic primary next year, Dan Muroff.
Wolf said the state lacks an “adequate structure for victims to report this type of behavior” and called on leaders from both parties in Harrisburg to “commit to real reform that protects victims.”
The paper said none of the women who say they saw or heard questionable conduct by Leach said they had been assaulted, denied
a promotion or had their careers threatened.
Messages were left Sunday with Leach and his spokesman, Steve Hoenstine.
Here is the full text of a message posted by Leach on Facebook:
“In June people affiliated with one of my political opponents started a ‘whisper campaign’ against me. After some prodding, the media picked it up. Media outlets, including the Inquirer, filed Right to Know requests for ‘complaints’ filed against me, though none exist. Inquirer reporters called members of my Senate staff. Those reporters later told me that my Senate staff said I was a great boss and there were no problems.
“Still hungry for a story, the Inquirer reporters spent months calling my friends, colleagues, former political opponents, and complete strangers. After all of that effort, this is what they’ve come up with.
“Anybody who knows me even a little knows I am a humorous guy. My humor is no racier than the average person’s, but to be clear, it’s not pure either. Like most people, I sometimes tell or laugh at bawdy comedy.
I am frequently asked to speak publicly, in part because of my humor. Every year the Pennsylvania Legislative Correspondents’ Association, which counts the reporter who wrote this story as one of its members, invites me to do standup comedy for their annual fundraiser. Nobody has ever complained to me about my humor.
“I just learned that Aubrey Montgomery is saying she was offended by my humor when she worked for me 10 years ago. To me, that’s a little strange. In the office, when the humor was flying, she was at least as racy as anyone else. And at the end of that campaign, she told me how proud she was to have worked for me. Two years later, in 2010, she came back to work for me again. She has repeatedly donated to my subsequent campaigns and, just this year, she told me she would donate to me again as soon as my opponent (the same one pushing the whisper campaign) dropped out of the race, despite the fact that, as she said, he’s like a brother to her. The first I ever heard that she had a problem with me was this week.
“It is true that sometimes I touch people when I talk to them. A clasped forearm, a pat on the back, but never anything inappropriate or sexual. I now know
that some people subjectively find such touching unpleasant. Rep. Daryl Metcalfe comes to mind. I will avoid that in the future, except with people I know extremely well.
“That said, the two alleged incidents that were described to me by the Inquirer did not happen. I have brief discussions in public places dozens of times a day. Of these incidents, I remember one only vaguely and the other not at all. But they both allegedly occurred in crowed rooms with lots of people and cameras around. I was never alone with the women involved. And I never, in any way, intentionally or unintentionally touched them inappropriately. It did not happen.
“Politics is, sadly, an ugly business. And given the current atmosphere, these sorts of fishing expeditions into everyone’s pasts are likely to become standard. That’s a shame. I worry that we risk weaponizing and trivializing a long overdue and critically important movement that is just starting to gain steam. There is probably nothing I can do about that. So I will go back to doing what I’ve always done: being a fierce fighter for women’s rights and trying to protect my family from the unfortunate consequences of the profession I’ve chosen.”