Rep. Chris Lee (R-NY) has resigned from Congress, following a report in Gawker that the married politician had been seeking dates on Craigslist — and sending photos of himself sans shirt, in order to demonstrate that he was a “fun fit classy guy” — while falsely representing himself as a divorced lobbyist.
Lee said in a statement:
“It has been a tremendous honor to serve the people of Western New York. I regret the harm that my actions have caused my family, my staff and my constituents. I deeply and sincerely apologize to them all. I have made profound mistakes and I promise to work as hard as I can to seek their forgiveness.
“The challenges we face in Western New York and across the country are too serious for me to allow this distraction to continue, and so I am announcing that I have resigned my seat in Congress effective immediately.”
A resignation triggered by a sex scandal could conceivably make for a competitive special election, though at this point it is obviously far too early to know for certain.
Lee was first elected in an open-seat race in 2008, winning by a margin of 55%-41%. His district voted for John McCain by 52%-46%, down from a 55%-43% vote for George W. Bush in 2004.
In the Republican year of 2010, Lee was easily re-elected by 74%-26%.
Eric Kleefeld
Eric Kleefeld joined TPM as an intern for the final months of the 2006 midterm elections, and then kept showing up for work. His other interests include guitars, old comic books and the politics of various English-speaking countries.
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