565: Luke Simons

Luke Simons is a former North Dakota state representative. He also managed to be expelled from the legislature for sexual harassment by his fellow Republicans. One Republican representative from Grand Forks actually moved her desk to get away from his harassment.

She said that she gave an excuse that she needed to be closer to the restroom during her pregnancy, avoiding the real issue of his harassment. He sat behind her, telling her she was lucky her boss let her come there to work. He made comments about who was doing the dishes, and more. Several interns and staff came forward with similar allegations as well as pressuring women to go out with him.

His claim that all of this is political theater to oust him for being a conservative is an odd claim when the North Dakota legislature has a Republican supermajority of 82 to 12. The expulsion vote was 69 to 25.

• The Daily Beast: North Dakota Lawmaker: I Moved Desks to Escape GOP Colleague’s Harassment
• The Hill: ND House expels lawmaker after sexual harassment allegations
• Grand Forks Herald: North Dakota House expels Rep. Luke Simons after sexual harassment allegations