At least the messiest congressmen stick together.
Representative Steve Stockman of Texas is currently mounting a long-shot Republican primary challenge against incumbent Senator John Cornyn. Until recently, the elusive congressman, who spent more than two weeks avoiding reporters, had not even a shred of establishment backing. But that changed when California Representative Dana Rohrabacher, who spent a week in Egypt and Russia with the Texas congressman backed him in the Senate primary on Wednesday. Rohrabacher praised his travel companion to the Dallas Morning News saying, “He’s aggressive and he’s a creative thinker.” But the two have more in common than just globetrotting.
Both Stockman and Rohrabacher have been in the news for leaving behind grotesque messes in their wake. Stockman’s campaign office was condemned in December. The building, a former motorcycle shop, was filled with dirt, mold, and holes in the wall. The lot behind it was filled with what appeared to be abandoned hot tubs. The pictures as a catalogued by Talking Points Memo are grotesque. Apparently campaign staffers and volunteers had been living in the building considered unsafe for human habitation. with 14 different fire code violations.
Rohrabacher has never been accused of trashing an office, but allegedly trashed his rental house instead. As revealed in Orange County Weekly, the California congressman left the million-dollar rental in Chula Mesa, California a mess. “Massive black stains and muck covered the carpet throughout the home. Sticky grime encased damaged, rusted appliances . . . Walls inexplicably contained odd holes, nail polish, wax and some smelly substance that may have been feces. Every toilet seat in the house was broken. The ceilings showed smoke damage. Light switches had been cracked. Clumps of hair and remnants of what may have been balloons or some other rubbery material clogged sinks.” In addition to this mess, there was also an infestation of maggots. Rohrabacher is currently suing his landlord over this because he still wants his security deposit back.
Although Rohrabacher has been in Congress for 25 years, it’s refreshing to know that he’s taking at least a minor political risk in backing an outsider candidate like Stockman. Then again, if you’re not cleaning, it’s easy to stick together.