Chris Lee Resigns: Sex Scandal - Gawker, Deadspin, And Democrats

Wow, the resignation of Republican Congressman Chris Lee (D 26th District - NY) reveals yet another Republican Sex Scandal. (Is anyone keeping count?) And NY Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez and his 17-year-old girlfriend (as of this writing) Eliza Kruger can thank the randy Republican for effectively bumping them down the front page of the New York Post. (OK, well they're still on the front page of Deadspin.)

What happened was that Gawker, the main blog in the highly successful Gawker Media Network that includes Deadspin, ran a post of how the married Chris Lee was using Craigslist to find dates. Lee, apparently so horny he forgot he was a public official, decided to send a photo of himself shirtless.

Moreover, Lee told the woman via text that he normally dates other women but he lied about his position, age, and marital status - he's not divorced and is 46. Lee told the woman he was 39 and that he was a lobbyist, not an elected official from New York. (Geez. As a momentary aside, there's no shame in being in one's 40s, and someone who think's so has a massive issue.)

When the woman discovered Lee was lying on three counts, she cut off contact and sent his photo and information, including the text contact, to Gawker.

The result is, when it hit the media, Lee and his staff tried to say while the email account i his, that someone hijacked it. Eventually, and within the span of about 24 hours, Lee announced his resignation.

Gawker and Deadspin Score Again

I don't know to what extent Gawker Media's paying for these disclosures, but it's interesting both Gawker and Deadspin managed to issue blockbuster stories on Mark Sanchez and Chris Lee just a day apart, and while introducing a new blog design.

The new design is more "magazine" like, rather than the standard blog roll. There's one big story on the left and the other stories in a standard roll on the right. What I don't like is the blog is now so wide, it bleeds outside the standard web page width; I have to move the page out to see all of its contents.

But I digress.

A Chance For Democrats.

New York Governor Andrew Quomo will call a special election to fill the 26th District seat Lee held only for just under two years. This is a chance, a good one, for Democrats to realize a gain in a state that's traditionally blue. While the 26th District of New York has been a mostly Republican seat going back to 1857, Democrat Maurice Hinchey held it from 1993 to 2003, a ten-year span ending just seven years ago.

Stay tuned.