Opinion
Is Mike Zabel The PA Dems’ Version Of George Santos?
Democrats everywhere have (appropriately) assailed Speaker Kevin McCarthy for refusing to take any action to remove disgraced New York Congressman George Santos. But here in Pennsylvania, the shoe is now on the other foot as State Representative Mike Zabel, a Democrat from Drexel Hill stands accused of sexual misconduct. Prominent Pennsylvania Democrats have been quiet about Zabel, but House GOP Leader Bryan Cutler (who can always be relied upon to say and do the moral and righteous thing) issued a statement on Thursday (March 2), calling for Zabel’s resignation.
Of course, there are differences between Santos and Zabel; the most obvious is that Santos has at least owned up to being a lying scoundrel. Zabel on the other hand hasn’t confirmed or denied lobbyist Andi Perez’s charges – that, among other things, Zabel touched her inappropriately.
One undisputable similarity between the Santos and Zabel situations is that Santos’ Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the U.S. House. And Zabel’s Democrats have an even thinner majority in the Pennsylvania House.
In November, Democrats won 102 seats in the Pennsylvania House to the Republicans’ 101. Currently, the Democrats have a two-vote majority, after Republican Lynda Schlegel Culver resigned from her Pennsylvania House seat to fill the 27th District Senate seat, previously held by John Gordner. Gordner resigned last year to become counsel to Senate President Pro Tempore Kim Ward. A special election to fill Culver’s 108th District house seat is scheduled for May 16, the day of the statewide primary election.
If Zabel were to resign today, Democrats would still have a one-seat majority in The House. And assuming Zabel does resign (that’s certainly not guaranteed) there would be a special election in his 163rd District. In the last general election Zabel won by a margin of more than 31%, so it doesn’t appear that his district is ripe for flipping to the GOP.
How Does Mike Zabel Compare To Daylin Leach?
On December 17, 2017, the Inquirer reported that former Senator Daylin Leach (who for years represented all of Lower Merion and Narberth) had been accused by several staff members of “sex talk and inappropriate touching.”
On the same day, then-Governor Tom Wolf called on Leach to resign.
For the most part, Wolf was alone among prominent Pennsylvania Democrats urging Leach to step down. Then on January 25, 2019, news sources across the state reported that Cara Taylor had accused the senator of sexually assaulting her.
On January 28, 2019, Leach filed a defamation suit against Taylor. His suit also named Colleen Kennedy and Gwen Snyder co-defendants (they settled in September of 2021).
The next day, The Delaware County Times reported –
Rep. Mike Zabel, D-163, of Upper Darby, defended Kennedy as “a good person,” saying she is tough and aggressive, “but she doesn’t lie.”
“Suing her for defamation is a repugnant intimidation tactic and an improper use of legal process by @daylinleach. For shame,” Zabel wrote.
On February 1, 2019, newly elected Democratic State Senator Katie Muth circulated a letter to members of her caucus calling for Leach to resign. Leach filed a defamation suit against Taylor and also named Colleen Kennedy and Gwen Snyder (they settled in September of 2021).
It appears that Zabel’s statement about Leach was posted on his personal Twitter account @MikeZabel, which now is a “protected account,” visible only to approved followers.
On February 15, 2019 the Inquirer reported that The Delaware County Democratic Committee last week called on State Sen. Daylin Leach to resign from office and, if he refuses, declared him ineligible for endorsement “for any elected office in the future.”
Then on March 14, 2019, The Montgomery County Democratic Committee, led by Joe Foster, sent a letter to Leach calling for his resignation. Foster’s letter was co-signed by a Who’s Who of Montgomery County Democrats.
Colleen Kennedy has now accused both Daylin Leach and Mike Zabel of Sexually Inappropriate Behavior
Click above to read Colleen Kennedy’s full 2017 essay about Daylin Leach.
After excoriating Daylin Leach in December 2017, more than five years later, Colleen Kennedy published another tell-all, trash-all essay – this time about Mike Zabel.
She does explain why she kept this information about Zabel to herself all this time.
I didn’t want to have to say any of this publicly for a myriad of reasons. (1) Given all that I have been through in my life, this public disclosure is terrifying. (2) I genuinely care about Mike and all of his loved ones, and do not want to see his family hurt in any way. (3) My life experiences and my trauma tell me that I am in a world of pain for being honest about any of this publicly. I wrote an essay like this before and it resulted in years and years of litigation, a devastating blow to my physical and mental health. There are people who will never find me credible, who do not want to hear what I have to say, and they remain angry with my existence. I am mindful of them as I write this. They are a large reason why I have been silent about all this for so long.
Click above to read Colleen Kennedy’s full 2023 essay about Mike Zabel
One Big Difference Between the Leach and Zabel Stories
Unlike the 2023 situation in the Pennsylvnaia House, in 2019, when fellow Democrats called on Leach to resign, they were in the minority by 29-21. So losing his presence in the Senate would have had minimal impact on what little power the Democrats might have been able to wield. Now with a one or two vote majority, they might not want to take the risk of expelling any memebers, regardless of how undiserable they might be.
Still, if what we’re hearing about Zabel turns out to be just the smoke on top of the fire, and the legion of Daylin Leach’s Democratic accusers remain silent, it will be hard not to conclude that they are putting party ahead of principle