The worm turns

Two years ago Florida Democrat Tim Mahoney benefited when incumbent Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned in scandal, caught sending lewd messages to teen-age boys and Capitol Hill pages. Now Mahoney, campaigning for re-election, has a sex scandal of his own. ABC News reports Mahoney agreed to pay $121,000 to a former mistress and staffer, Patricia Allen, who was threatening to sue him. ABC says the affair between Mahoney and Allen began in 2006, when Mahoney, who is married, was running for Congress promising voters a world that is “safer, more moral.” Allen’s friends told ABC she ended the relationship with Mahoney after learning he allegedly was involved in other extra-marital affairs. They said Mahoney threatened to fire Allen if she broke things off. Now there’s a $121,000 settlement. It’s all too bad for voters in Florida’s 16th District, who must wonder what they’ve got to do to get scandal-free representation in Washington.

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