BISMARCK, ND (AP) – The North Dakota House voted on Thursday to expel a lawmaker accused of threatening and sexually harassing women in the Capitol, the first time in state history that a lawmaker has been expelled.
Members voted 69-25 to ask Rep. Luke Simons, a Republican from Dickinson, due to a pattern of behavior they said went back to shortly after taking office in 2017. The expulsion came with strong support from Simons’ own party, which is a super majority in the room.
Majority leader Chet Pollert, who co-sponsored the eviction resolution, said Simons “had been given multiple opportunities to avoid ending up in this situation.”
“There is only one way to stop this behavior and that is to remove Representative Simons from this House,” Pollert said.
Simons, who denied the wrongdoing, challenged the vote. He accused the prosecutors of “twisting my words,” said any other legislator could be in his position, and complained that he was not being offered a fair trial.
“I can blame you all,” Simons said before the vote. “Under this circumstance we are under, you are guilty.”
Surrounded by his family and friends after the vote, Simons said he believed he would have had “a lot more support” from his fellow lawmakers.
Lynn Boughey, his attorney, said he could take the case to court, but would leave it to Simons “after talking to his family.”
Simons is accused of a pattern of sexually aggressive, lewd and threatening behavior. Republican Representative Emily O’Brien said his harassment was so widespread that she switched desks to get away from him.
“Before coming up, I struggled with whether this was something I wanted to relive,” she told other house members. “It is difficult to repeat the unjustified, troubling and uncomfortable experiences. I think you should be ashamed, Emily O’Brien, for not coming forward and being a voice for others. ”
A 14-page document prepared by the impartial Legislative Council contains allegations that Simons made “claims” against female staffers and interns, commented on their appearance and attempted to give a staff member an unsolicited shoulder massage. One employee described his behavior as “really creepy”.
The council released two additional documents this week alleging that Simons is exhibiting inappropriate and bizarre behavior, a 43-year-old farmer and hairdresser who is married and has five children. One woman said Simons called her “ the pretty one, ” and insulted her husband by saying that women who are fancy dressers like me are usually married to shmucks like my husband. ‘
The woman, whose name was redacted in documents, also claimed that Simons once placed his lunch box in her office before going to the bathroom and said, “I bet there’s no bomb in it, huh?”
Republican Representative Shannon Roers Jones, a lawyer, said on the floor Thursday that the move to remove Simons is about inappropriate behavior, not targeting a political ideology, as Simons claims. Simons is a member of the loosely organized Bastiat Caucus, an extreme right-wing group that supports limited government and gun rights. Much of the legislation proposed by Simons over the years reflected that.
“We have taken women away from him, we have limited his ability to work with them, but we also punish the women,” said Roers Jones. “When we relocate or limit women who they work with, we limit a woman’s ability to do her job, thus limiting her ability to move forward because of one member’s actions.”
Fargo’s Democratic House Minority Leader Josh Boschee, who co-supported the resolution, looked at Simons and said, “You hurt people. You have violated the integrity of the legislative assembly. “
The North Dakota Constitution says either house can expel a member with two-thirds approval. That meant that at least 63 members had to approve the resolution to expel Simons. Republicans have an 80-14 advantage in the chamber.
Opponents of the resolution said the trial was flawed and Simons was not given a fair trial. Pollert said the process to evict Simons “went beyond what is required by law.”
GOP representative Rick Becker, who heads the Bastiat Caucus, argued that Simons’s behavior did not warrant exclusion and tried to change the resolution to condemn him instead. That failed, 66-28.