Eric Massa To Retire Amid Allegations He Sexually Harassed A Male Staffer
First-term Rep. Eric Massa announced Wednesday that he will not seek reelection, saying his doctors have told him that he can’t continue to “run at 100 miles an hour.”
But several House aides told POLITICO that the House ethics committee has been informed of allegations that the New York Democrat, who is married with two children, made unwanted advances toward a junior male staffer.
A more senior staffer — Ronald Hikel, Massa’s former deputy chief of staff and legislative director — took the complaints to the ethics committee and was interviewed about them twice.
Hikel declined to comment about the situation, but House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) confirmed that the Democratic leadership had been informed of the allegations before the news broke.
“I’ve heard of that allegation before,” he said. “I had some indication, yes, but I don’t want to go beyond that. And my presumption [is] it’s being pursued in the course of business.”
Massa told POLITICO early Wednesday afternoon that no one has brought allegations of misconduct to him.
Asked specifically about the sexual-harassment allegations, he said: “When someone makes a decision to leave Congress, everybody says everything. I have health issues. I’ll talk about it [later].”
Massa has suffered from Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. On a conference call with reporters Wednesday afternoon, he said he was hospitalized in December and that his doctors made it clear to him that he needed to slow down. He denied that he was retiring because of a sexual-harassment claim.
“Do I or have I ever used salty language when I’m angry, especially in the privacy of my inner office or even at home? Yes, I have, and I have apologized to those where it’s appropriate,” Massa said. “But those kinds of articles, unsubstantiated without fact or backing, are a symptom of what’s wrong with this city.”
A 20-year Navy veteran, Massa serves on the Agriculture, Armed Services and Homeland Security committees. His departure endangers Democrats’ hold on his competitive upstate New York seat.
Hoyer said news of the sexual-harassment allegation — coming on the same day Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) gave up his gavel on the Ways and Means Committee — shouldn’t give Republicans a leg up in November.
“I don’t think it helps anybody in the institution, any one of us on either side of the aisle. It certainly didn’t help Mr. Foley,” Hoyer said, referring to former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who resigned from Congress in 2006 amid allegations that he sent sexually explicit instant messages to underage male pages.
“When there were allegations about Mr. Foley or others, I think the institution suffers,” Hoyer continued. “And that’s why it’s so important that each of us conducts ourselves in a way that won’t bring discredit on the institution.”
Massa’s decision came as a complete surprise to several of his freshman Democratic colleagues in the New York delegation. According to the (New York) Daily News, which first reported that Massa was retiring, the congressman called party leaders and supporters in his district Wednesday to tell them of his plans.
“I don’t think it helps anybody in the institution, any one of us on either side of the aisle. It certainly didn’t help Mr. Foley,” Hoyer said, referring to former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), who resigned from Congress in 2006 amid allegations that he sent sexually explicit instant messages to an underage male page.
“When there were allegations about Mr. Foley or others, I think the institution suffers,” Hoyer continued. “And that’s why it’s so important that each of us conducts ourselves in a way that won’t bring discredit on the institution.”
Massa’s decision came as a complete surprise to several of his freshman Democratic colleagues in the New York delegation. According to the New York Daily News, which first reported that Massa was retiring, the congressman called party leaders and supporters in his district Wednesday to tell them of his plans.
Massa has played a gadfly-like role in the House, calling for a single-payer health care system at a conference of liberal activists last year, despite representing a Republican-leaning district. He was one of 39 House Democrats to vote against health care legislation; he said it didn’t do enough to control costs.
As a freshman representing New York’s most Republican House district, Massa was one of the most endangered Democrats in the delegation. Republicans had been aggressively targeting his seat and landed top recruit Tom Reed, the Republican mayor of Corning, to challenge him.
Massa is now the 15th House Democrat to announce retirement plans, with 11 of them leaving districts that Republicans are aggressively contesting. House Republicans face 19 retirements, but most of their departing members hail from safe seats.
Massa’s departure also adds to the woes of New York Democrats, who have been on the defensive this week amid a scandal surrounding Gov. David Paterson, who announced he wasn’t running for election, and the tribulations involving Rangel.
After news of Massa’s retirement hit, New York Rep. Steve Israel, the head of recruiting for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, headed to DCCC offices to make recruiting calls in Massa’s district. The upstate New York district is ancestrally Republican and doesn’t have a deep bench of Democratic officeholders.
“It’s yet another uphill battle,” Israel said, but he noted that Democrats have been successful in two competitive special elections held last year in upstate New York.
Massa’s departure could scramble the Republican field since the filing deadline is not until July. Former Rep. John “Randy” Kuhl, whom Massa beat by 2 percentage points in 2008, is exploring the possibility of running for his old seat, according to a source who spoke with him after Massa’s retirement announcement.
In a statement, Kuhl said he would address “political decisions in the future, but right now it is important for Eric to get the treatment that he needs to recover.”
Other potential candidates who may consider entering the race include Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks, state Assemblyman Brian Kolb and state Sen. Cathy Young.
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Sources: Politico, Google Maps
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