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SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Mayor James E. West was recalled from office Tuesday in a special election over allegations he offered jobs and perks to young men he met in a gay Internet chat room.
West, 54, must leave his position when the election results are certified Dec. 16.
Just over half of the 110,000 ballots mailed to voters were counted in the first batch of results released Tuesday night. Of those, 38,718, or 65 percent, voted to recall West, while 20,681, or 35 percent, voted to retain him.
It was unclear how many more ballots would be received. Ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be valid.
West has spent 27 years in public office and is the city's first elected chief executive to be ousted before his term expired.
The campaign to recall him began last spring after the Spokesman-Review newspaper reported that West was a closeted homosexual who visited gay chat rooms using his city-owned laptop computer, and offered internships and other favors to young men he hoped to have sex with.
West, a former Boy Scout executive and sheriff's deputy, was elected mayor in 2003 after serving more than two decades as a conservative Republican in the state Legislature, where he voted against gay-friendly bills.
It's a good thing we don't allow these corrupt perverse politicians to run the government. I wonder if the liberals here will be as critical of him as they are of the Honorable Tom Delay.
He should immediately be exiled from the Republican party.
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Thanks for sharing, but this is a repost.
AnandTech Moderator
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- Mayor James E. West was recalled from office Tuesday in a special election over allegations he offered jobs and perks to young men he met in a gay Internet chat room.
West, 54, must leave his position when the election results are certified Dec. 16.
Just over half of the 110,000 ballots mailed to voters were counted in the first batch of results released Tuesday night. Of those, 38,718, or 65 percent, voted to recall West, while 20,681, or 35 percent, voted to retain him.
It was unclear how many more ballots would be received. Ballots had to be postmarked by Tuesday to be valid.
West has spent 27 years in public office and is the city's first elected chief executive to be ousted before his term expired.
The campaign to recall him began last spring after the Spokesman-Review newspaper reported that West was a closeted homosexual who visited gay chat rooms using his city-owned laptop computer, and offered internships and other favors to young men he hoped to have sex with.
West, a former Boy Scout executive and sheriff's deputy, was elected mayor in 2003 after serving more than two decades as a conservative Republican in the state Legislature, where he voted against gay-friendly bills.
It's a good thing we don't allow these corrupt perverse politicians to run the government. I wonder if the liberals here will be as critical of him as they are of the Honorable Tom Delay.
He should immediately be exiled from the Republican party.
---
Thanks for sharing, but this is a repost.
AnandTech Moderator
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