Democratic Connecticut Rep. Elizabeth Esty won’t run for re-election following revelations that she employed an allegedly abusive chief of staff for months after he was accused of punching and threatening to kill a female staffer.
Esty wrote in a Facebook post Monday that she “determined that it is in the best interest of my constituents and my family to end my time in Congress at the end of this year and not seek re-election.”
Esty kept her chief of staff, Tony Baker, on the payroll for three months after she was made aware of credible abuse accusations, she admitted Thursday.
When Esty eventually fired Baker, she helped him land his next job soon afterwards, writing him a positive recommendation to work at Sandy Hook Promise, an educational nonprofit that works with high school students.
“Too many women have been harmed by harassment in the workplace. In the terrible situation in my office, I could have and should have done better,” Esty wrote Monday.
Esty faced pressure to resign from the media and from Republicans over the abuse scandal. One group she didn’t face pressure from — her fellow congressional Democrats, who declined to call on Esty to resign.
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