Associated Press
OLYMPIA — A state legislator says he won’t resign following allegations he sexually harassed students when he was a professor at Central Washington University.
The Seattle Times reported this week that Rep. Matt Manweller, R-Ellenbsburg and a political science professor at the school, had been investigated twice for allegations of sexually harassing students. Manweller denied the allegations and criticized the university’s handling of the investigations, telling the newspaper “I’ve never propositioned a student.”
Tina Podlodowski, head of the state Democratic Party, says Manweller should leave the Legislature. She noted Democratic U.S. Rep John Conyers and Democratic Sen. Al Franken were leaving Congress following allegations of sexual misconduct.
But Manweller told Northwest News Network that would not “give in to this mob mentality” and would run for re-election next year.
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