The sexual liberation and the drunken power that get into politicians’ heads. You don’t shit where you eat, fellas.
A married Nevada state representative admitted on Friday to having an extensive affair with a former intern for State Senator Harry Reid.
Nevada Rep. Steven Horsford (D-4th District) acknowledged the affair after Gabriela Linder - using the name ‘Love Jones’ - came forward with details of the affair in her podcast ‘Mistress for Congress’ and Twitter account.
Horsford has been married to his wife - an associate professor at Columbia University - since 2000. The couple share three children.
Linder claimed that the affair began in 2009 while she was interning for former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s Nevada office. At the time, Horsford was the majority leader of the Nevada state Senate.
The the then-21 year old claimed that she met Horsford at an event and later arranged to meet him through a friend. Horsford was 36 when they met.
She said that the two had a sexual relationship off and on again until September 2019.
Their sexual relationship took place between 2009-2010 and 2017-2019, she claimed. The two maintained regular contact throughout the decade, however.Linder asserted that she saw her podcast as ‘an empowering journey’ as she moves on from the relationship, which she claims she ended after Horsford refused to leave his wife in the 2020 election year.
From the Las Vegas Review:
There are 13 other candidates in the district participating in either Republican or Democratic primaries, and some reacted to the news Saturday.
Gabrielle “Brie” D’Ayr, a Democrat running in the primary against Horsford, said the seat has been represented by men “plagued by personal scandal” for too long.
At this point, Horsford has not been accused of any illegal activity or sexual wrongdoing.
D’Ayr said a video in which Horsford appeared on Linder’s son’s YouTube channel was of particular concern.
“(Horsford’s staff members) are good people,” she said. “They are there because they want to do good for the citizens of Nevada. Who could they have been helping instead of spending time working on someone’s personal project?”
Republican Lisa Song Sutton released a statement calling for Horsford to immediately resign, as well as an investigation by the House Ethics Committee into whether any taxpayer money was used during the affair.
Republican Jim Marchant called for a bipartisan investigation into whether Horsford used his position to secure job offers for Linder.
Another Republican, Sam Peters, echoed the calls.
“Congressman Horsford should be immediately investigated over these allegations of financial payoffs, and, if the allegations are true, resign at once,” Peters said.
Republican Charles Navarro called for an investigation and for Horsford to drop his re-election bid.
“The House Ethics Committee must conduct an investigation into whether any campaign or taxpayer dollars were paid to support her financially,” Navarro said. “The people of Nevada’s 4th Congressional District deserve answers to these questions and so much more.”
