Pennsylvania Republican Scandals | Updated List of GOP Scandals in PA
Scandal Categories
Pennsylvania Republican U.S. Congress Member & Candidate Scandals
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Sean ParnellFmr. U.S. Senate Candidate11/22/21Strangled his wife multiple times, once kicked her out of their car on the side of the highway when she was pregnant, struck his child leaving a handprint and hit another child with a door leaving a bruise over a yearslong periodAccording to court records in an order granting his ex-wife sole legal custody of their children
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Joseph McDadeFmr. U.S. Representative2/15/07Pleasured himself a mere 10 to 15 feet away from an unsuspecting woman he followed from the beach to the pool at a Florida resortAccording to charging documents filed by local police
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Pat MeehanFmr. U.S. Representative45 Years in GOP1/20/18Propositioned an aide who was decades younger than him to become romantically involved and then made her life in the office so miserable after she rebuffed his advances that she quit and sued him for sexual harassment, which resulted in him secretly spending thousands of taxpayer dollars to settle while also being marriedConfirmed by a total of 7 office employees and acquaintances in an exclusive report by The New York Times
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Tim MurphyFmr. U.S. Representative10/04/17Asked a woman he was having an extramarital affair with to get an abortion when she told him she thought she was pregnant while also having had voted in favor of numerous abortion restrictions against womenAccording to text messages he sent to her that were obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Pennsylvania Republican State Legislator Scandals
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Mike FolmerFmr. State Senator [R-PA]9/18/19According to charging documents filed by local officials
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Matt McCulloughFmr. State Sen. Nominee10/20/14Drunkenly “grabbed and squeezed” a strip club employee's chest without her consent and then refused to leave after police ordered him toAccording to a police report filed by local officials and first reported on by LevittownNow.com
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Torren EckerState Representative [R-PA]6/23/23Crashed into a guardrail while driving under the influence of alcohol just before midnight and was arrested when police arrived and observed that he was drunkAccording to charging documents filed by local officials
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Nick MiccarelliFmr. State Representative5/18/18Kicked, punched and pinned his then-girlfriend state rep Tarah Toohil by the neck to a wall inside the state CapitolAccording to an exclusive report published by The New York Times3/13/18Pinned down and raped a political consultant in her bed after she made it unambiguously clear to him that she was not interested in being intimate that evening and then smeared her by publicly outing her on social mediaThe alleged victim confided in a co-worker about the assault the next morning,3/13/18According to an exclusive report by Penn Live3/09/18Brandished his gun and threatened to kill his then-girlfriend state rep Tarah Toohil and himself, threatened to kill them both by taking the car they were in up to 100 mph and crashing it and stalked her so incessantly that a judge granted her a restraining orderRep. Toohil [R] was granted a restraining order against Miccarelli
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Brian EllisFmr. State Representative3/20/19Had sex with an unconscious woman who woke up "in pain, injured and naked" in a bed next to him without any memory of having sex with him after a night of "casually drinking" less than two drinks with friends and in addition to being unable to legally consent to sex she had made it "abundantly clear" to him many times before that she was not interested in a sexual relationship, not least because he was marriedAccording to an exclusive report by The Philadelphia Inquirer
Pennsylvania Republican Finance Official Scandals
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Mary ReisingerCounty Treasurer [R-PA]12/02/11Stole a necklace worth only $27.99 from a Sears department store by hiding it in her pocket and not paying for it when checking out with other items and then tried to flee when confronted by security which proved her guilty intentionsShe pleaded guilty to shoplifting and was ordered to take a class
Other Pennsylvania Republican Scandals
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Shawn DenningFmr. Chief of Police [R-PA]1/25/23Coordinated purchasing and distributing cocaine and methamphetamine with someone who was also a confidential government informant working with the DEA by connecting them with distribution networks in Arizona and California and having the drugs delivered to Pennsylvania through the mail multiple times over a sixteen-month periodAccording to charging documents filed by federal officials
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Jeffrey ThomasFmr. District Attorney9/23/21Slapped and choked a female work acquaintance and then raped her after he entered her house without permission while also presenting himself as a "tough on crime" prosecutor to the publicAccording to charging documents filed by local police