State Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Royse City) announced his resignation from the Texas House of Representatives on Monday before lawmakers were slated to vote on his expulsion for an alleged inappropriate relationship with an aide, according to a report from The Texas Tribune.
According to Austin ABC affiliate KVUE, the Austin-based online outlet reported that a House panel had recommended the removal of Slaton from the lower chamber of the Texas Legislature after an investigation determined he had the affair in question with the 19-year-old woman.
“The abhorrent behavior described in the report requires clear and strong action,” the Texas House Freedom Caucus said in a statement, The Texas Tribune reported.
A born and bred East Texan, the 45-year-old Slaton is married with a son.
The vote to expel him was supposed to be held on Tuesday.
Republican Party of Texas chair Matt Rinaldi, a former member of the legislature, said in a statement Slaton let his constituents down with his purported actions, NBC News reported.
“We are encouraged that this investigation signals that the House has entered a new era of accountability where all members will be held to the same fair and high standards,” Rinaldi said, according to the report.
Slaton is known for helping spearhead the conservative effort to ban drag shows, labelling performers as perverts who seek to groom children.
The list of individuals and entities who clamored for his resignation, included, but wasn’t limited to a pair of county GOP parties in his district, the Texas Right to Life Political Action Committee (PAC) and several of now-former colleagues on both sides of the aisle, NBC News reported.
Per NBC News, neither Slaton or his legal counsel commented on the resignation, though Patrick Short, an attorney representing the lawmaker, slammed the claims against his client last month as “outrageous” and “fake.”
It was nearly 100 years ago when the state House last expelled a member.
