Democrat Tim Mahoney Snared in Sex Scandal Only Two Years After Replacing Mark Foley

The Democrats may have just lost a seat that was going for them. Florida Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney, who replaced Mark Foley after his page scandal, is now embroiled in his own sex scandal. That is fast work for a politician. Foley only resigned in 2006. In D.C., it usually takes an average of three years for members in engage in a lobbyist scandal, five years for a sex scandal and ten years for a criminal conspiracy.

Following a standard political response, Mahoney has asked for the House ethics committee to investigate his own behavior. This is a standard move since (1) your opponents will do so anyway and (2) the congressional ethics rules are written so loosely by the members themselves that most anything short of a murder in plain view is deemed (in the double negative world of Washington) “not unethical.”

ABC News reported that Mahoney (who is married with kids) had an affair with with Patricia Allen during his campaign in 2006 and then hired her for his congressional office. He is accused of giving her $121,000 to avoid a sexual harassment lawsuit and arranging for a job with the company that handles his campaign ads.

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