His rise through the Democratic Party was all but certain — until it suddenly came crashing down.
In the end, Oregon State Democrat Diego Hernandez found himself resigning after he was accused of rampant sexual harassment during his time in office.
In all, 18 allegations were made against the liberal Portland lawmaker.
He has been accused by his colleagues of creating a “hostile workplace.”
The Washington Free Beacon reported that two instances involved threats to ruin the careers of colleagues if they refused to enter a romantic or sexual relationship with him. Three people in total were alleged victims of the harassment.
Leading up to his resignation, Hernandez had been facing an expulsion vote to oust the young Democratic congressman. A bipartisan committee voted to move forward with the expulsion vote — where two-thirds of the votes would have been necessary to boot Hernandez from the chamber. The expulsion vote would have been the first in the chamber’s history.
Hernandez resigned instead, citing the need to “move forward with my life and focus on my health and family.”
Though he didn’t go down without fighting.
According to the Free Beacon, he clashed with the judge handling his case over key evidence such as text messages, emails, and social media posts being redacted from the proceedings. Hernandez had attempted to use this as means to block the expulsion vote, but was denied by the judge.
Throughout this all, Hernandez was not without allies.
Fellow Democrat Mark Meek stood up for the embattled liberal politician, declaring that lawmakers jumped too quickly to a conclusion without giving the young lawmaker a fair chance by way of the constitution.
“The system is broken, and they were out for Diego without due process.”
The Horn editorial team