Don Shooter stood before his fellow representatives in the Arizona House Thursday and asked for a second chance. He did not want to be kicked out of the Legislature, even after an outside investigation found he had made unwelcome sexualized comments for years and created a hostile work environment. He was now ready to listen.
“I say stupid things and do stupid things, I guess,” he said. “I can’t change the past, but I can change the future if I’m given the opportunity.”
His colleagues wisely declined.
The House should be commended for expelling the Yuma Republican and sending a strong message that the time when people such as Shooter got a free pass is over. Unfortunately, it almost didn’t happen.
As late as that morning, House Speaker J.D. Mesnard preferred that Shooter only be censured for his actions. It was only after Shooter sent a letter trying to draw attention to a separate instance of possible sexual misconduct related to Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita — the lawmaker who bravely first accused Shooter of harassment last year — that the Speaker had enough and went ahead with the removal vote.
Reading the report detailing the investigation into the allegations against Shooter, one can almost see why someone could think the former representative deserved another chance.
In the report, which includes his Jan. 9 statement of contrition read on the House floor, he can come off as a familiar archetype — just another big personality from another time who didn’t understand the rules had changed but was ready to start learning and changing.
This picture falls in line with what some legislators told investigators, who said Shooter was flirtatious, was considered a character, a class clown, and known for making off-color comments and having sexually suggestive banter with friends.
Shooter’s defense to the accusations against him — which included him telling investigators that he did not remember a particular incident, but noted that it could have happened, or how he doubted an allegation was true because the woman in question was “not that cute” — could, if one is feeling particularly (and unjustifiably) generous, come across as pathetically clueless.
Of course, once you get into the facts of the accusations, it’s difficult to summon anything other than disgust.
Some of the allegations that the report found to be credible include:
• Shooter made repeated comments about Rep. Ugenti-Rita’s clothing and appearance, as well as unwelcomed sexualized comments about her breasts.
• He “grabbed and jostled his crotch” close to the face of a female lobbyist for the Arizona Supreme Court who was sitting in his office, while saying, “I’m a sucker for the pretty ladies. Everyone else here thinks it. I’m the only one who has the balls to say it.”
• Telling the former publisher of the Arizona Republic Mi-Ai Parrish, who is Korean-American, that the only thing he regretted not doing was those “Asian twins in Mexico.”
• Hugging a female intern for the Arizona Capitol Times, whom he had never met before, for an inappropriate amount of time and then continuing to touch the small of her back.
• During his race for the speakership in 2016, he made vulgar comments to several women and men about Rep. Darin Mitchell, which involved Shooter making “air humping” movements.
Clearly, the people of Yuma deserve better.
The House did the right thing in holding Shooter accountable, but why did it take so long?
According to the report, his improper conduct — an open secret — occurred from the time he was first elected to the Senate in 2010 to as recently as last year.
It makes it obvious that Shooter is only part of the problem. He was part of a culture that not only tolerated but also enabled him, allowing his bad behavior to go unchecked until it became impossible to ignore. Lawmakers are moving in the right direction, but ousting one man from his seat is only part of the solution.
The Legislature must continue to listen and investigate accusations of improper conduct and work to change an environment that allows this kind of abuse to flourish in the first place.
