FL-16 Stays Classy

Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-FL), who won his House seat in 2006 in the wake of a sex scandal involving the then-Republican incumbent, is now embroiled in some sex drama of his own. According to ABC News, he paid his alleged former mistress Patricia Allen $121,000 in settlement money and legal fees after she threatened to sue him for harassment and intimidation. ABC also reports that Mahoney promised Allen a two-year gig at the agency that makes his campaign ads.

Yup, that's the same firm that made this ad from 2006...in which Mahoney told voters scandalized by the revelation that his predecessor, Mark Foley, had sent lewd messages to teenage boys serving as Congressional pages, that "every generation has the responsibility to turning over to the next generation an America that's more moral":

The CEO of the communications firm, Nashville-based Fletcher Rowley Chao Riddle Inc., says he was unaware of any deal with Allen and resigned from Mahoney's campaign yesterday.

Mahoney has not directly addressed the affair allegations, though he said today he takes "full responsibility" for his actions. He maintains that he didn't do anything illegal -- specifically, he denies paying Allen off using "campaign funds". Mahoney asked House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to call for a congressional ethics investigation, which she promptly did. He says the investigation will "vindicate" him. But Republicans say it's a stalling tactic to put off the matter until after the elections. In either case, the media coverage of the scandal gives Mahoney an even tougher battle as he struggles to hang onto his seat in a Republican-leaning district.

Also worth noting...this completes a Democratic sex scandal hat trick for 2008 (following l'affaires de Spitzer and Edwards). The most recent big GOP opprobrium was the Larry Craig foot-tapping incident of summer 2007 Rep. Vito Fossella's other-woman imbroglio from May. Is it us or do these things always seem cyclical by party? It's like the chart of fox and rabbit populations in high school biology class.

If this kind of story tickles your schadenfreude-bone (you sicko) you can check out PolitickerNJ's list of "America's Top 53 Political Sex Scandals". Or read our own Ken Rudin's Lewinsky-era look at "Congressional Sex Scandals in History"

-- Evie Stone

UPDATE: How could we forget Vito Fossella? H/t Ron Elving.

12:57 PM ET | 10-14-2008 | permalink

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