The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●NV-04: On Saturday, after a third woman accused Democratic Rep. Ruben Kihuen of sexual harassment, the Nevada freshman announced he would not seek re-election in 2018. However, even though Kihuen came under pressure from Democratic leaders to resign as soon as the first allegations against him became public at the beginning of December, he insists he won't leave office early. Assuming he sticks to his current plans, Kihuen's departure will open up his suburban Las Vegas seat next November, which shifted from a comfortable 54-44 win for Barack Obama to a more modest 50-45 margin for Hillary Clinton last year.
Campaign ActionKihuen is a former member of the state legislature who was close to ex-Sen. Harry Reid, a major force in Nevada Democratic politics, and in 2012, Kihuen ran for the safely blue 1st Congressional District around Las Vegas with Reid's support. However, former Rep. Dina Titus made it clear she wasn't going to defer to Reid's choice and Kihuen ended up dropping out, handing Reid a rare intra-party defeat.
A few years later, though, Kihuen got a second shot at a congressional bid. Horrible Democratic turnout in 2014 helped Republican Cresent Hardy unexpectedly unseat Rep. Steven Horsford in the 4th District, and Kihuen entered the primary after Horsford announced he wouldn't try to reclaim his old seat in 2016. Kihuen hadn't represented any part of the 4th District, but with help from Reid, the powerful Culinary Workers Union, and even Bill Clinton, Kihuen decisively won the primary against two well-funded opponents. In November, Kihuen beat Hardy 49-45 in an expensive contest, closely matching Clinton's performance at the top of the ticket.
As a freshman in a swing seat, the DCCC added Kihuen to its "Frontline" program for vulnerable incumbents, and national Republicans suggested they might go after him. But while Kihuen did earn a challenge from Las Vegas City Councilor Stavros Anthony, who lost a 2015 bid for mayor, it didn't look like he'd face an especially competitive race for re-election, particularly given the rough overall environment for the GOP.
But Kihuen's political career imploded in early December when BuzzFeed published a story reporting that Kihuen's former campaign finance director said the congressman had sexually harassed her. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi and DCCC chair Ben Ray Luján called for Kihuen to resign the day the story broke, but Kihuen didn't just refuse, he claimed that both party leaders knew about the allegations last year but "didn't find anything" and went on to support his congressional bid. Pelosi and Luján denied the charges, and the DCCC proceeded to drop Kihuen from their Frontline list.
Kihuen denied he'd ever done anything wrong, but a second woman soon came forward and told the Nevada Independent that when he was in the legislature, Kihuen "touched her thighs or buttocks on three separate occasions without her consent" and wouldn't leave her alone when she repeatedly rebuffed him. She also shared hundreds of text messages in in which Kihuen said things like, "What color are your panties?", "You should come sit on my lap" (during a committee hearing), and "I'm sure you look even better naked." On Friday, BuzzFeed reported about a third woman who described similar interactions with Kiuhen, and the House Ethics Committee announced it would open an investigation, which Kihuen said he'd cooperate with.
On Saturday, though, Kihuen issued a statement saying he wouldn't seek another term in Congress. However, Kihuen still maintains that he's been wrongly accused and insists he's retiring only because he believes the allegations against him would be a "distraction" in a campaign. So would all the fresh allegations: Shortly after Kihuen's announcement, the Nevada Independent published another story detailing sexual harassment accusations made by a fourth woman, who says the congressman made unwanted overtures toward her and other women at an October fundraiser and hinted he'd helped advance her career in exchange for sexual favors. The Independent's Jon Ralston says that his publication had given Kihuen until noon local time on Saturday to respond to the story and doesn't think that it's a coincidence that Kihuen chose to retire at the Independent's exact deadline.