County GOP Calls for Rep. Simpson’s Resignation
By Tom Forbes at July 28th, 2010.Washington state Rep. Geoff Simpson (D-Covington) made an appearance in Seattle Municipal Court yesterday where he was charged with gross misdemeanor assault for an incident involving his ex-wife at Seattle Children’s Hospital on May 22. According to the Covington Reporter:
The police report stated Simpson entered his daughter’s room at the hospital after she requested he not visit her. The daughter was recovering from surgery that occurred May 19.
In the police report Simpson’s ex-wife stated she tried to stop him outside the room and he “pushed her out of the way and back into the room.” According to the report the ex-wife stated he used the door to force her out of the room. The ex-wife stated in the report he then, “barricaded the door and shut the blinds.”
The police report stated a social worker described the incident to the Seattle police officer as the ex-wife did
Simpson plead not guilty.
Simpson’s ex-wife also filed for a protection order against Simpson on May 27, which was granted; the third such order has been filed against Simpson.
These charges (Simpson was arrested for domestic violence in 2008 but the charges were dropped) have prompted the King County Republican Party to call for Simpson’s resignation. KCGOP chair Lori Sotelo stated in a press release that Washington Democrats are not calling for Simpson to resign for fear of losing his seat in the hotly-contested 47th Legislative District.
“The loudest message in the continuing saga of Geoff Simpson is the silence from Democratic leadership in the state House and state Democratic Party,” said Sotelo. “Tolerance should never apply to domestic violence issues. Simpson has a history of aggressive behavior and obviously doesn’t have the sound judgment to know when he’s disqualified from serving in public office.”
Tags: 47th Legislative District, Geoff Simpson, King County Republican Party
Tom Forbes
Tom lives in Pullman and is managing editor of the Washington conservative political blog Palousitics (www.palousitics.net)
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I’m an independent (socially moderate, fiscally conservative, vote both ways), and the hypocrisy of many people in parties – putting party politics over right and wrong – is a big reasons why. I can’t stand the hypocrisy of many people in parties. If this was a Republican, many of the Democrats who are silent or supporting Rep. Simpson would happily smear him and call for his resignation at the rumor of an issue, let alone a 2nd arrest with a social worker witnessing this time.
I’m all for our American justice system, so if one wanted to wait for this to be adjudicated through the courts before passing judgement, fine. But to immediately dismiss the charges as false, a right-wing smear and campaign tactic (as I’ve seen commenters allege on other blogs) is sad, wrong, and damaging. How many victims of abuse will be more hesitant to come forward after seeing the the Democrats’ (isn’t womens’ rights supposedly a Progressive issue?) reaction to this?
It shouldn’t matter if someone is a Democrat or Republican. Ethics and criminal violations shouldn’t be the subject of political spin, they should be handled with the seriousness and compassion that their VICTIMS deserve. I would not vote for Rep. Simpson even if the race were uncontested. Justice trumps politics.
[...] Democrat Rep. Geoff Simpson, charged with domestic violence, failed to get over 40%. He’s clearly in hot water. Simpson will face Republican Mark [...]