State Democratic Party Chair Accused Of Sexual Misconduct

LOS ANGELES, CA —The Chairman of the California Democratic Party is facing accusations of "horrific and dehumanizing" sexual misconduct against party staff members.

Eric Bauman, a longtime fixture in Los Angeles County politics, denied the allegations against him in a statement confirming the investigation.

"I look forward to putting these allegations behind us and moving forward as unified Democrats," Bauman said in the statement reported by the Los Angeles Times.

"I take seriously any allegation brought forward by anyone who believes they have been caused pain," he told the Sacramento Bee.

The state party is investigating the allegations and independent counsel has been hired to investigate the matter Bauman confirmed. The allegations came to light last week when Daraka Larimore-Hall, a vice chairman of the state party, sent a letter to state Democratic Party leadership calling for Bauman's removal. Bauman is the state party's first openly gay chairman.

In the letter sent Tuesday, Larimore-Hall said he first heard of the allegations during a recent party executive board meeting a week ago. He said he had spoken to two of the alleged victims and that their stories "illustrate a clear and escalating pattern" of Chairman Bauman's horrific and dehumanizing behavior. However, he declined to provide details of the specific allegations, adding that he was withholding the names of those involved to protect their privacy, the Times reported.

Bauman was elected chairman of the party in 2017, after a closely contested election against progressive activist Kimberly Ellis. A former nurse and organizer, he led the Los Angeles County Democrats for 17 years and also served as vice chairman for the statewide party for eight years.

State Democratic Party sources told The Times that the outside counsel hired to investigate the allegations is Debra Henshaw Vierra, an employment law attorney at the Sacramento law firm Churchwell White.

Bauman has been under investigation for at least one harassment complaint involving employees prior to the Nov. 6 election, sources familiar with the investigation told the newspaper.

"These allegations are very troubling and deserve a full and thorough investigation," Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom said in a statement Sunday.

City News Service and Patch Staffer contributed to this report. Photo: Youtube screengrab