Alex Constantine - October 23, 2008
By Aaron Blake
thehill.com
10/13/08
The second sex scandal in two years in Florida’s 16th district could put things right back where they began: with a Republican congressman.
ABC News reported Monday morning that freshman Rep. Tim Mahoney (D-Fla.) paid more than $120,000 in hush money to a former mistress and arranged for her to have a job at a political consulting firm.
This comes just two years and two weeks after Mahoney’s predecessor, Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.), announced his retirement amid an ABC report about his inappropriate sexual interactions with House pages. The timing of the Mahoney news leaves Democrats in exactly the same position Republicans were in with Foley: too close to the election to get a ballot replacement. ...