State lawmaker resigns in Jefferson City, citing rumors
The House speaker confirms a state lawmaker is stepping down, after leaders promised new reforms in the Missouri legislature. Republican Rep. Don Gosen submitted his resignation on Wednesday, telling The Associated Press there were rumors he needed to address.
“There’ve been some rumors, stories floating around the Capitol the last week – some true, some not true,” Gosen told the AP. “And with those come some personal issues that I’m addressing at home – none of those related to legislative duties, legislative activities.”
Speaker Todd Richardson said in a statement, “At the beginning of this year, I said the actions of this body would not be defined by a few. I was serious then, and I am serious now. That’s why when I was made aware of the situation, I asked him to resignlast night.”
Gosen, 53, went to the University of Missouri in Columbia and has been a State Farm agent in the St. Louis area for last 25 years, according to his campaign website. He was first elected in 2010 and is a father of three. Gosen is now the third state lawmaker to quit under pressure within the past year.
Last May, then-House Speaker John Diehl resigned after acknowledging he exchanged sexually charged text messages with a Capitol intern. A couple of months later, Sen. Paul LeVota resigned after being accused of sexually harassing interns, which he denied.
Speaker Richardson said on Wednesday, “I believe as I said on the first day of session that as ‘individuals we must be at our best and as an institution we must be better.’ We owe nothing less to our state and to the people we represent.”
