JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Michigan’s statehouse has been roiled for the past month after an extramarital affair between two lawmakers became public, ultimately leading to both losing their seats.

At the same time, two state lawmakers in Minnesota, also married to other people, were forced to step down from an ethics committee after a ranger cited them with a misdemeanor for making out in a public park.

These episodes follow scandals earlier in the year involving male lawmakers and their young interns in Missouri’s capital city. Kentucky and Vermont also have generated their own share of headlines in recent months for sex-themed spectacles involving state lawmakers.

It’s as if politicians have forgotten the lessons of former President Bill Clinton, who was impeached in 1998 — but ultimately remained in office — after being accused of lying about his sexual relationship with a White House intern.

Beyond the natural interest in the sexual escapades of elected officials, why should the public care? The Associated Press provides some reasons.

 

Why it matters

Political sex scandals distract elected officials from working on public policy and can cost taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees, lost productivity and special elections. Depending on the circumstances, they also can lead to conflicts of interest that call into question the motivations of elected officials.

With politicians already ranking low in public opinion polls, each additional scandal further erodes the public confidence in government and adds to a stereotype that discourages some people from participating in the political process.

“They’re abusing the public trust, and that matters to all of us because this drip of stuff over time makes us less able to be an effective political society,” said John Chamberlin, a professor emeritus of public policy at the University of Michigan who specializes in political ethics.

When the media revealed secret audio recordings of Republican Michigan Rep. Todd Courser plotting a smear campaign against himself in an attempt to divert attention from his affair with GOP Rep. Cindy Gamrat, the reaction among some people was: “This is number 1,706 of things that legislators are bad at,” Chamberlin said.

Courser resigned Friday as it appeared legislators were likely to oust him, while Gamrat was removed from office in a vote by her colleagues. Both are married.

Not only will taxpayers foot the costs for the special elections to replace them, but roughly 90,000 people in each of the lawmakers’ former districts will have no elected representative in the Michigan House until March.

One week earlier in Minnesota, Republican Reps. Tim Kelly and Tara Mack paid fines after being cited by a county park ranger for causing a nuisance by allegedly “making out” in a parked car. The ranger also wrote in his notes that Mack’s pants were unzipped and pulled down.