Susan Wild's Lucky Break In Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley: Another GOP Sex Scandal

The board complained Nothstein had "ego" problems but didn't fire him until after the sex scandal

When the Pennsylvania Supreme Court oversaw the redrawing of the state's gerrymandered congressional districts, Charlie Dent's 15th district got somewhat friendlier for Democrats. Dent had already decided he couldn't stand working in a Trumpified Washington and had announced his premature retirement. The new 7th district is 71.6% from Dent's 15th CD, 24.8% from Matt Cartwright's old 17th district and a tiny bit from Tom Marino's old 10th district. The 15th was an R+2 district. The new 7th is a D+1. In this Trumped-up political environment, it's nearly unimaginable that a Republican could win it this year. Under the new boundaries, Hillary beat Trump 48.7% to 47.6%.

6 Democrats ran in the primary May 15. There was tremendous apprehension because among the top three candidates there were 2 progressives-- Greg Edwards and Susan Wild-- and one Republican-lite candidate, John Morganelli. Morganelli was financed by GOP billionaires through a network of shady SuperPACs controlled by No Labels-- a right-wing group that works to elect conservative Democrats. In the end, though Wild won:

• Susan Wild- 15,262 (33.45%)
• John Morganelli- 13,754 (30.15%)
• Greg Edwards- 11,602 (25.43%)

The GOP primary was very close and now we're getting to Wild's good luck.

• Marty Nothstein- 16,241 (50.49%)
• Dean Browning- 15,923 (49.51%)

First note that 45,622 voters participated in the Democratic primary, while only 32,164 participated in the Republican primary, a great sign for November. But, even better, at least from a partisan perspective is that the local media this week is filled with a Nothstein scandal. Nothstein, a cyclist, has been working as executive director of the Lehigh Valley velodrome (an arena for track cycling) for a decade. The velodrome board put him on unpaid leave in February, something he's tried to hide from voters, after it came to their attention that he has been credibly accused of sexual misconduct. Since then, they fired him. Nothstein, like every single Republican politician accused of sexual impropriety in history, denies everything and claims it was a "political hit job." Nothstein has been able to hide the scandal for 6 months and flipped out when the Morning Call, after a 3-month investigation blew the whistle. The other Republican in the primary, Dean Browning, who lost by just 318 votes, says he was unaware of the scandal and had no idea Nothstein had been put on leave (and then fired) because of it. When the Lehigh County GOP, asked Nothstein if he had any skeletons in his closet he lied and said he didn't, according to Browning, who added "If I was in his situation if an allegation came up, I would take it upon myself to explain to voters whether any of it is true or not."

A source with direct knowledge said Nothstein’s being placed on leave came within days of the board receiving the email indicating he was under investigation for alleged misconduct by the U.S. Center for SafeSport, an independent wing of the congressionally sanctioned U.S. Olympic Committee.

SafeSport has “exclusive authority” to conduct internal investigations of “actual or suspected sexual misconduct” and underlying problems related to sexual misconduct at 47 Olympic-sanctioned sports programs no matter how old the claim may be. It was created in 2014 following mounting abuse complaints and public pressure.

...Jonathan Whiteman, a USA Cycling risk protection manager who fields abuse claims, said his office received the complaint about Nothstein on Oct. 30. That was 11 days after Nothstein publicly announced his bid for Congress.

Whiteman forwarded it to SafeSport on Nov. 1. Before referring it, Whiteman said he gathered “enough specificity to allege a policy has been violated,” as is required.

“What I can confirm is USA Cycling received an allegation involving Marty Nothstein that included sexual misconduct,” Whiteman said in a May phone interview. “When USA Cycling receives an allegation of sexual misconduct, we are not making any determination of validity before reporting it to the U.S. Center for SafeSport.”

...The February timing of the decision matches a big drop in the salary Nothstein listed on his most recent congressional candidate filing. The May 15 filing shows Valley Preferred paid Nothstein $23,781 this year-- which equaled two months of his gross $148,688 salary.

Neither the nonprofit’s board nor Nothstein publicly announced his departure from the velodrome or the reasons behind it even as the nonprofit labored to get the track ready for its opening season.

...Two weeks before the May 15 primary election, Nothstein would only say he was campaigning full time when repeatedly questioned by a reporter about his employment status at the velodrome. Board members declined to comment or did not return requests for a comment this spring.

...Nothstein and velodrome officials publicly ended their relationship this month. That’s when the velodrome started to advertise on its website a job listing for executive director. Nothstein said Thursday he received no financial settlement from the velodrome.

Paul Ryan's shady SuperPAC has been funding Nothstein's race but is refusing to comment on the scandal and a spokesman won't say whether or not they will continue their activities on his behalf.