A newly elected Democratic House candidate who defeated a scandal-plagued opponent is now facing allegations of his own.
On Election Day, Ohio Democrat Brian Poindexter unseated Republican Rep. Max Miller, whose ex-wife had accused him of domestic violence.
Mr. Poindexter’s campaign on Friday said he was accused of verbal sexual harassment.
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“Brian gave what he thought was an innocuous compliment to a volunteer. He heard later that it made her feel uncomfortable and he felt awful,” his campaign spokesperson told Politico.
“When Brian learned about this, we immediately began to work to get to the bottom of it with an outside HR firm. … Neither Brian nor the campaign ever wants anyone to feel uncomfortable.”
Julie Merz, executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, confirmed to Politico in a statement that it was investigating the claims.
“The DCCC has been made aware of the allegations and takes them seriously. In the interest of fairness to all parties involved, we have hired an independent, third-party firm to investigate any instance of inappropriate behavior, conduct interviews and gather the facts,” she said.
“Upon completion of that investigation, which we have asked to be swift, thorough and transparent, the DCCC will have further comment.”
The news comes after reports that the campaign arms of two Democratic caucuses — the Blue Dog Coalition and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC — removed Mr. Poindexter from their list of midterm endorsements.
Asked this week about the endorsement withdrawals, he told reporters, “Nothing to read into that. Just, I’m waiting to learn the political landscape.”
He added, “My main focus right now is just setting up my office and stuff. There could be time to join ideological caucuses.”
During his campaign, Mr. Poindexter focused on allegations against Mr. Miller, which he argued were disqualifying.
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