State lawmaker resigns following misconduct
SACRAMENTO — California Assemblyman Raul Bocanegra resigned Monday following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct, making him the first lawmaker to leave office amid a spate of reports rocking the state Capitol.
The Los Angeles Democrat had previously said he wouldn’t seek re-election and would leave office at the end of the next legislative session. But on Monday, Bocanegra said that he’s decided to leave immediately following reflection over the Thanksgiving weekend and conversations with family, friends and supporters. Multiple women have accused him of kissing or groping them without consent.
In a statement released by his office, Bocanegra said he’d hoped he could clear his name.
“But clearly, the principle of ‘innocent until proven guilty’ has been temporarily lost in a hurricane of political opportunism among the self-righteous in my case — to the detriment of both the accuser and the accused,” he wrote.
“While I am not guilty of any such crimes,” he added, “I am admittedly not perfect.”
Meanwhile, the Senate Rules Committee voted Monday to remove Sen. Tony Mendoza, another Los Angeles-area Democrat, as chair of the Insurance, Banking and Financial Institutions Committee following allegations of inappropriate behavior toward young women who worked for him. He is accused of inviting one woman over to his home, offering another alcohol when she was 19, and repeatedly holding one-on-one meetings with another over dinner or drinks.
His behavior with two
of the women was formally reported. Mendoza has denied offering a staff member alcohol and otherwise said wouldn’t knowingly abuse his authority.
Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Leon, who shared a Sacramento home with Mendoza until recently, has called Mendoza’s behavior deeply troubling but hasn’t called on him to resign. He left the committee meeting without commenting. A separate Senate panel will meet Tuesday to interview outside firms to take over all of the Senate’s misconduct investigations, including the one into Mendoza. Fellow Democrats Sen. Toni Atkins of San Diego and Connie Leyva of Chino also left without commenting.
Allegations against Bocanegra first came to light last month, when legislative staff member Elise Gyore said she had reported him to Assembly investigators in 2009, when both were staff members, after he stalked her around a nightclub and put his hands down her blouse at an after-work event. He was told to stay away from her but documents do not indicate that he was otherwise disciplined by the Assembly Rules Committee.
The Los Angeles Times reported last week that Bocanegra is accused of groping or kissing numerous women without their consent over a period of years, even after he was reprimanded for his behavior toward Gyore in 2009.