JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – Missouri state Sen. Paul LeVota submitted his resignation Friday following allegations that he made unwanted sexual advances toward interns, the chamber’s top leader said.
Senate President Pro Tem Tom Dempsey said he received a resignation letter from the 47-year-old Democrat from Independence on Friday. Dempsey says the letter notes the resignation is effective Aug. 23.
LeVota had previously denied claims of sexual harassment, inappropriate texting and invitations for interns to come to his Jefferson City duplex, and had said he had no plans to resign. In a statement issued Friday, he continued to deny the allegations but said “the media attention is a distraction to doing the people’s work.”
“As I stated before, I did not engage in any inappropriate activities with any intern in the Missouri Senate and a thorough investigation found no proof of misconduct,” LeVota said. “However, I will not put my family, myself, and the senate through the process of dealing with the veracity of false allegations and character assassination against me.”
Alissa Hembree, who filed the sexual harassment complaint this year that launched investigations into LeVota’s conduct, told The Associated Press that LeVota’s resignation is “a great step forward for the Missouri legislature and specifically women” who want to work in state politics.
Pressure on LeVota grew after the release Wednesday of an internal Senate investigation into Hembree’s sexual harassment complaint against the senator this year. That prompted another woman who worked as an intern in LeVota’s office in 2010 to come forward with claims that the senator sent her late-night texts that she described as “sexual in nature” and invited her to his Jefferson City duplex.
Missouri’s U.S. Sen. Claire McCaskill and Gov. Jay Nixon – both Democrats – issued statements Thursday saying the allegations called into question LeVota’s ability to serve, and the Republican-led Senate launched another review of the second intern’s accusations.
Taylor Hirth, the second intern to speak against LeVota, called on him to resign.
LeVota’s seat will remain vacant until Nixon calls a special election or until the end of LeVota’s term in 2017.
LeVota, 47, is married and has two daughters. He was elected to the Missouri House in 2002 and served as House minority floor leader from 2007 to 2010. LeVota was elected to the Senate in 2012 and served on an ethics committee until he was replaced following the allegations against him. That same ethics committee was tasked with investigating him.
The investigations and resignation add to a tumultuous year in Missouri politics. Former Republican House Speaker John Diehl resigned on the same day session concluded after acknowledging that he had exchanged sexually suggestive text messages with a 19-year-old Capitol intern.
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