Has there ever been a sex scandal involving a woman politician?

[pscot]

My wife posed that question tonight, her voice fairly dripping with moral superiority. I had to admit I coulnd't think of one. Any candidates?

[Horse with no Name]

1. We are much more discrete.

~wink~

[FLAprogressive]

2. There's a rumored one that's been kind of bubbling under the radar about SC Gov Nikki Haley....

http://jezebel.com/5548046/why-nikki-haleys-sex-scandal-matters-updated

[MountainLaurel]

3. Helen Chenoweth

One of those youthful indiscretions that lasted for years while she was in her 40s.

[hobbit709]

8. It broke up TWO marriages-hers and the man's

[FirstLight]

4. I can't think of one either...

isn't that interesting?

also has something to do with the psychology of a man who runs for office may have issues with power and superiority, a woman who runs is more likely to be doing so for altruistic reasons :shrug: just a thought

and yes, we are more wise about getting 'caught' lol

[LisaL]

5. Alleged adultery.

"In the old days—and I’m talking only a few years ago—Nikki Haley wouldn’t have had a chance. Here she was, an attractive, 38-year-old married woman running for the Republican nomination for governor in solidly conservative, highly religious South Carolina, and two men come forward to allege publicly that she’d committed adultery with them."

http://www.newsweek.com/2010/06/23/how-nikki-haley-survived-political-scandal.html

[pscot]

14. I think voters are inclined to ignore

indiscretions that happened out of office.

[Angry Dragon]

6. People are much more afraid of a penis than they are of a naked woman

[Riftaxe]

24. As a matter of aesthetics, I can

certainly agree with most people in this... :evilgrin:

[laconicsax]

7. Nikki Haley?

She survived it too, which I'm sure has nothing to do with the (R) after her name.

[LiberalLoner]

9. I still think it has more to do with age than any moral superiority. I've been a

relative saint these past ten years, from 40-50. Don't ask me about ages 16-30 because I'm not admitting a damn thing.

[Angry Dragon]

25. ..................

:evilgrin:

[LiberalLoner]

35. ROTFLMAO! n/t

[Tx4obama]

10. Yes, here are THREE females - all republicans.

Nikki Haley:
* South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley (R) and former State Representative, was confronted by Will Folks, former Press Secretary for disgraced South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford (R), who claimed that he had an inappropriate physical relationship with Haley "several years ago".<7> Larry Marchant, a consultant for opponent Andre Bauer's gubernatorial campaign, also alleged he and Haley had a one-time sexual encounter.<8><9><10> Haley, who is supported by the Tea Party movement has denied the claim, stating "I have been 100 percent faithful to my husband throughout our 13 years of marriage. This claim against me is categorically and totally false."<11>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_local_political_sex_scandals_in_the_United_States


Helen Chenoweth-Hage, Representative (R-ID): While aggressively calling for the resignation of Bill Clinton, she admitted to her own six-year affair with a married rancher during the 1980s. She explained the difference by saying it was all right since she was single and a private citizen at the time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federal_political_sex_scandals_in_the_United_States


Utah State Representative Katherine Bryson (R) was caught with a male lover on a surveillance camera her then husband had set up to catch a "burglar." (2004)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_state_and_local_political_sex_scandals_in_the_United_States

[Proud Liberal Dem]

11. Wasn't there something briefly stirred up

involving Democratic Congresswoman Jan Shankowsky supposedly being involved in a lesbian tryst with some foreign agent or something? It was here and gone fairly quick- probably just some Fox-inspired tabloid fantasy that up and fizzled out. :shrug:

[pscot]

16. Whoa! How did we miss that?

[TheWraith]

19. That was a claim made by Sibel Edmonds, actually.

That Schakowsky had been seduced into a lesbian affair by a Turkish intelligence agent, and subsequently photographed and video taped in the act.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

26. I forgot who the source was on that

Thanks for refreshing my memory. What happened to make that story go away? It was like here today, gone tomorrow.

[TheWraith]

28. It didn't really seem to have legs, as there was only her claim.

There wasn't any hard evidence. Of course there wouldn't be. But how wild it sounded definitely made it hard to justify running a news story. And Edmonds herself has more or less dropped off the map, the most recent thing on her website is almost 2 years old.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

39. I noticed that

however she has another website that is current. I don't hear her talked about as much as she once was here on DU.

[TheWraith]

40. I'm guessing it's simply because what she says is impossible to prove.

Not saying it's right or wrong, but there's just a very limited amount of interest you can generate when you can't provide independent confirmation of anything.

[PassingFair]

41. That, and I don't think she actually NAMED the congresswoman...

very murky.

[Cerridwen]

12. A better question would be the percentage rather than raw numbers

given the overwhelming numbers of male versus female elected/appointed officials throughout history.

[sad sally]

13. Here are three that were in The New Yorker (anybody know what the "horse thing" was?)

Katherine Bryson, state representative in Utah
Her offense: She was caught on camera with a lover by a surveillance camera that her husband, Kay, had set up intending, he said, to catch a thief.
Her defense: Kay abused power by using county employees to install the publicly owned equipment that did her in, Katherine said. A judge disagreed.

Jacqui Smith, Home Secretary for the U.K.
Her offense: Claiming the purchase of pornographic films on her parliamentary expenses.
Her defense: Her husband is the one who bought them; but she still resigned from office and said that she “was the one who did the wrong thing. For claiming it. For not going through the expense form closely enough.”

Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia
Her offense: Taking many lovers, elevating them to positions of power, and then casting them off, with large sums of money, when she became bored with them.
Her defense: At least I gave them parting gifts. And the horse thing’s a lie.


Read more http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2011/06/women-in-politics-have-sex-scandals-too.html#ixzz1OkA6ageM?du

[pscot]

20. Catherine the Great seems like a reach

Great movie, though. Dietrich was sensational. And the horse thing was in the film.

[TheWraith]

21. In short, she was alleged to have tried out getting it on with a horse. nt

[SoDesuKa]

15. They Resign To Spend More Time With Their Families

Women's sex scandals never hit the surface. They resign to spend more time with their families. Remember Susan Molinari? After giving the keynote speech at the Dole nominating convention, she resigned to spend more time at home with her infant daughter. In fact, her husband Bill Paxon also resigned to spend more time with little Susan Ruby.

[HipChick]

17. Edwina Currie had a 4yr affair with Prime Minister John Major -UK

[TheWraith]

18. Of course.

Helen Chenoweth. Nikki Haley. Edwina Currie. I'm blanking on her name, but there was another one... a married MP who was discovered to be sleeping with a man 15 years her junior. One of New York's female state senators is shacking up with another state senator who's substantially older than her.

It is worth noting that female politicians tend to be a much smaller share of elected officials, both in the US and abroad. It's not an unreasonable assumption that those who do get elected tend to represent the cream of the crop (in terms of savvy, if not actual intelligence) and are thus much less likely to engage in behavior that will get them caught than their male counterparts. I dare say if you saw a 50/50 balance, you'd be able to find many more examples.

[nadinbrzezinski]

22. Several, must less common

Nicky Haley comes to mind in recent memory

[GodlessBiker]

23. Men are taught to be more sexually adventurous; women to resist male temptation...

I think males generally consider themselves to possess more sexual freedom than woman.

[joshcryer]

34. I assume you forgot what puberty was like?

[katanalori]

27. Palin

http://www.nationalenquirer.com/celebrity/sarah-palin-lover-revealed

This came out during 2008 campaign - McCain camp threatened to sue, and didn't. Sarah, never one to let ANY criticism go - remained mum. The lover was Brad Hanson, Todd Palin's partner in a snowmachine dealership. The partnership broke up after Todd found out - so sayeth sources in Wasilly.

[Kaleva]

29. Catherine the Great comes to mind but no one who valued their life dared confront her.

[JVS]

30. Yes, and this thread has happened several times in the last few days.

[ScreamingMeemie]

31. Hillary Clinton and that affair with the alien...I read it in Weekly World News.

They were right sometimes...sometimes...

[Lil Missy]

38. I remember that! The alien was a lesbian.

[lonestarnot]

32. AZ Susan Brock, wife of repigliCON Fulton Brock, Maricopa County Supervisor, District 1 Arizona

It has been quite a sex scandal involving a minor. She's locked up, and prollee will be for long long time.

[notesdev]

33. How soon we forget

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

36. I know of a little misbehavior

But i'm also pretty confident the husband of the congresswoman in question is gay.

[bemildred]

37. Cleopatra? Messalina? Catherine di Medici?

Puritanism is what is relatively new.