Sunshine-State Scandal

Though she was at a presidential-debate watch party in West Palm Beach, Fla., last Wednesday night, Nancy Gau was preoccupied with a different political race: U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney's re-election bid. News reports had just emerged alleging that the Democratic congressman, who represents portions of Palm Beach County and nearby areas, had carried on multiple extramarital affairs. This was only two years after Mahoney's Republican predecessor, Mark Foley, became ensnared in a scandal of his own, involving male congressional pages. "Mahoney got this [job] because of someone else's evil doings," says Gau, a Democrat, who vowed not to cast a ballot for him. "You'd think he would be more careful not to do the same things." But more important, she says, "If he is screwing that many women, he isn't doing my business in Washington."

That sums up the mood for many in Florida's 16th Congressional District. It's not as though folks there don't have enough to agonize over these days. The economic crisis is ravaging the state, the real-estate market has cratered and job losses statewide are the worst in the nation. Residents could really do without having to worry about whether their congressman can keep his pants on. Add to that a string of other local corruption cases in recent years, and it's no wonder that many residents are wondering what's in the water in the 16th.

Mahoney, who's married and has one daughter, began an affair with Patricia Allen in 2006, ABC News reported. She volunteered for his campaign at first, and then took salaried jobs as a congressional staffer and later as a campaign worker. Eventually, she broke off the relationship, after learning that Mahoney was allegedly having other affairs, according to ABC News. Mahoney then fired her in January. When Allen threatened to sue, he agreed to a $121,000 settlement, the network reported. The critical question now confronting Mahoney, a wealthy venture capitalist, is whether he illegally used campaign funds or taxpayer money to buy Allen's silence. The FBI is reportedly investigating the issue, though a bureau spokeswoman wouldn't confirm it. Mahoney's attorney, Gary Isaacs, says that "it is my understanding that Congressman Mahoney turned over to the FBI all financial records that clearly show that no campaign or federal funds were involved." Allen's lawyer, Gregory Coleman, says that under the terms of his client's settlement with Mahoney, he can't discuss the case.

In response to the accusations, Mahoney—who campaigned in 2006 as a paragon of "faith, family and personal responsibility"—held a news conference last Tuesday. "I take full responsibility for my actions and the pain I have caused my wife, Terry, and my daughter, Bailey," he said, appearing contrite. However, he added, "I have not violated my oath of office, nor have I violated any laws." He also said that he'd asked the House Ethics Committee to investigate the allegations, a request made as well by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (the committee announced Friday that it would conduct a broad probe).

But the tawdriness doesn't end there. Last week, The Associated Press reported that Mahoney had a tryst with a second woman, an official in Martin County, which is also part of his district. Now Mahoney faces another potential allegation of impropriety. While he was involved with the Martin official in 2007, according to the AP, he was also trying to secure a $3.4 million reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for Martin County for hurricane damage in 2004. Was he perhaps doing her a favor? David Graham, the Martin County director of administration, says Mahoney's lobbying was just the sort of thing a congressman would be expected to do. Attorney Isaacs declined to address the possible conflict-of-interest issue, but a Mahoney spokesman confirmed the second affair. For his part, Mahoney told local reporters late last week that he's had "numerous affairs."

Needless to say, Mahoney's political future is looking bleak. For now, he's continuing his re-election campaign, according to his spokesman. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is no longer running ads for him. And last week, disgusted constituents demonstrated in front of his district office. Wielding homemade signs that read SHAME! and CHARACTER COUNTS, they chanted, "Mahoney must go!" and "Where is Ma-phoney?" While recent polls taken before the events of last week showed him leading his opponent, Republican Tom Rooney, Mahoney is now trailing by more than 25 points. "Mahoney's district is conservative by design, and he would have had a hard time holding onto the district anyway," says Kevin Wagner, a political science professor at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton. "More than a few voters see payback here for a candidate who took advantage of Foley's failures."

Palm Beach County residents are growing weary of scandal. Within months of the Foley distraction, county commission chairman Tony Masilotti was heading to prison for negotiating tainted land deals, State Rep. Ray Liberti pleaded guilty to mail fraud and obstruction of justice, and a high-level employee of the Convention and Visitors Bureau stood accused of stealing more than $1 million from county coffers. Even members of the clergy have allegedly gotten their hands dirty: Two Roman Catholic priests were arrested last year for reportedly embezzling millions of dollars from a Delray Beach church. And lest anyone forget, Palm Beach County is also the nation's capital of electoral chaos—in 2000, its notorious "butterfly ballots" wreaked havoc. More recently, ballots went missing in an August judicial election that remains unresolved. "It's embarrassing," says attorney Keith James, who was named to oversee a local task force on ethics in the wake of the various corruption cases. "Foley, Mahoney and ground zero for the 2000 elections?"

Last Wednesday, patrons of the Osceola Street Café—which sits across from Mahoney's district office in Stuart, in Martin County—were absorbing the latest disgrace to besmirch their district. Jerry Braunstein had what he called "a very French view on politics and sex." "If [Mahoney] wasn't involving money from his campaign, then it is really between Mahoney and his wife," he said. Then his wife, Norma, chimed in: Democrats "are going to drop him like a hot potato." The café owner, Beth Novins, said the overriding reaction among her customers has been "disappointment—disappointment that during these times that the focus is on this issue, and … disappointment that we went through this with Foley and now again." What's worse, many constituents felt Mahoney "had done a good job," said Novins. "This is not a Democratic district, but we had hoped that he could continue to represent us."

In Palm Beach County's extensive cocktail-party circuit, the response has been a mixture of exasperation, titillation and Schadenfreude. "The buzz is, he is pretty much dead meat," says Robin Bernstein, a charity-ball regular and old friend of Foley's. "Here is a guy who campaigned on morality and does this when he has not even been there two years. What a hypocrite. People are sick and tired of it—tired of people operating outside of the law on oversight committees, on Wall Street. There is just a common disregard for the law, and not just here."

Now local Republicans find themselves in a position they haven't been very accustomed to recently, that of capitalizing on Democratic disarray. Sid Dinerstein, the colorful chair of the Palm Beach County Republican Party, sounds eager to topple Mahoney. The Democrat should either reply publicly to the specific allegations against him or resign, says Dinerstein. Instead, "Mahoney is hiding behind Nancy Pelosi's skirts." District residents are "dying for someone to do the people's business," and Rooney, the GOP nominee, is the one for the job, says Dinerstein. "He is the salt of the earth" and a "totally stand-up guy." For the sake of the dispirited locals, let's hope Dinerstein is right.