January 18, 2008 - 2:15pm
Wingard says he'll stay in race despite domestic violence allegation
By Doug Daniels
Tags: Matt Wingard, Jerry Krummel
It looks like the solid Republican Dist. 26 House seat, which is currently held by retiring State Rep. Jerry Krummel, could potentially shift party control after an unpleasant revelation.
The Willamette Week is reporting that Matt Wingard, a young TV reporter and GOP up-and-comer who’s seeking the seat, has admitted to pleading guilty to hitting his son back in 2001, who was seven years old at the time.
Wingard said he intends to continue his campaign, and has reconciled with both his son, and the boy’s mother, but admitted House Minority Leader Bruce Hanna (R-Roseburg), has already withdrawn his support, and warned Wingard that the Republicans will likely search for another candidate to challenge him in the primary.
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Headline Misleading
When you plead guilty, you admit in open court to facts which constitute a crime. Calling the admitted child abuse an "allegation," suggests there are 2 sides to the story--like "I didn't notice the kid was in the way of my fist...."
Wingard = Child abuser
Somehow I think the Democratic leadership is licking its chops at the reaction soccer moms are going to have to a convicted child abuser.
Please
I am sure that some dirty trickster Democrats may be salivating at the chance to run against Wingard. However I'm betting that at the end of the day they will allocate resources to a closer race.
Let's not forget the sordid allogations against Karen Minnis regarding the alleged cover up of a brother in law's criminal charges. Those were MUCH worse allogations than are at play here.
And that district had a 3% Democrat edge, whereas the House Dist. 26 seat as a 14% Republican edge.
And... And the mother AND the child are both supporting Matt in this race.
I can see the response ad now, a picture of both Matt and his son:
"I love my dad. I support him in this race and wish his opponent would just leave us alone."
Or something along those lines...
Voters in Oregon really don't like that kind of politics as Goli Ameri found out when she went after David Wu on his abuse charges. Which... again were much worse than this.
Yip Yip
Child Abuse/Domestic Violence
I note that an assault on your 7 year old child would constitute both child abuse and domestic violence under Oregon law and the common definitions of such.
In weighing the gravity, consider that there is a parental discipline defense in Oregon - if it had been a legitimate act of discipline, he would not have been guilty. This leaves the probability that this was what virtually everyone considers a particularly morally repugnant act - the unprovoked assault of a child by his own father.
He's not morally fit to serve in any public office.
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