Politics from the Palouse to Puget Sound

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

King County Republicans Call for Rep. Geoff Simpson's Resignation

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.”

1 comment:

KingstonJW said...

Calls from conservatives on this particular concern is predictable. Silence of the liberal lambs is also predictable because they are worrying about legislative votes more than the crime itself. But what is more worrying, is the apparent silence of women's and victim's rights groups. Where is the outrage here? I am amazed that this event has been allowed to devolve to a partisan issue.