Beshear calls on Grossberg to resign after newspaper reports strip club barred Louisville lawmaker

Rep. Daniel Grossberg, D-Louisville, has said he is the subject of an investigation by the Legislative Ethics Commission. (LRC Public Information)

Prominent Kentucky Democrats, including Gov. Andy Beshear, are calling for the resignation of Louisville Democratic Rep. Daniel Grossberg following new allegations of inappropriate behavior toward women.

Beshear addressed reporters at the Capitol Friday following a morning report from the Lexington Herald-Leader saying Grossberg received a lifetime ban from a Louisville strip club after inappropriately touching a dancer. The story also alleges Grossberg offered another dancer $5,000 to have sex with him.

"I want to once again state clearly and unequivocally that Representative Grossberg should resign," Beshear said. "He should resign."

Beshear added that Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman was releasing her own statement to call for Grossberg's resignation. Beshear said he and Coleman "stand united together" in believing that calling for Grossberg's resignation "is the right thing to do.

"And I hope he hears it, and I hope he follows it," Beshear said.

As the governor's press conference ended, Kentucky Democratic Party Chair Colmon Elridge released a statement calling Grossberg "unfit to serve" in office.

"Every individual deserves to be held accountable for their own actions — particularly those who represent Kentuckians in the halls of our Capitol," Eldrige said. "Representative Grossberg has repeatedly proven that he is unfit to serve and must resign from office."

The latest revelations follow the House Democratic Caucus temporarily suspending Grossberg after asking the Legislative Ethics Commission to investigate allegations that he sent inappropriate text messages to women earlier this summer. Grossberg has also been asked to "temporarily refrain from participating" in Louisville Democratic Party events and removed from interim committee assignments

Two women anonymously quoted in an August Herald-Leader story about their interactions with Grossberg recently publicly identified themselves. They are Lexington Fayette Urban County Council candidate Emma Curtis and Kentucky Young Democrats President Allison Wiseman

Grossberg represents the 30th House District, which includes central parts of Jefferson County.

Beshear said last month that Grossberg should seriously consider if "a public office is the best or most appropriate place for him to be at this time."

Friday morning, Democratic Kentucky Congressman Morgan McGarvey and Rep. Chad Aull , D-Lexington, called for Grossberg's resignation Friday morning. Chair of the Louisville Democratic Party Logan Gatti also called on the representative to resign Friday.

Previously, the executive board of Kentucky Young Democrats called on Grossberg to resign after reviewing evidence it had seen at the time and "the experiences of multiple board members." Louisville Young DemocratsFayette County Young Democrats have also called on Grossberg to resign.

Beshear said he believed impeachment was the only way to remove a state legislator who refused to resign, barring them losing reelection in a subsequent election.

Grossberg, who is in his first term in the House, narrowly won his primary election by 50 votes. He does not face a Republican challenger in the upcoming general election.

Grossberg's attorney, Anna Whites, did not immediately return a request for comment Friday morning.

'Nobody should face harassment'

In response to reporters' questions, Beshear condemned Grossberg's alleged conduct as "wrong" and reiterated that Grossberg "can't be a state representative." Beshear added that "Nobody should face harassment" in their place of work, in the Kentucky Capitol and across the Commonwealth.

"I want my daughter to grow up in a world free from harassment. I want my son to grow up in a world free from harassment and these allegations and the alleged conduct, it crossed the line in the first story, across the line in this story, it's too much," Beshear said. "(Grossberg) needs to resign."

When asked if he had heard personally from women who had accused Grossberg of misconduct, Beshear said he wanted to "preserve the confidentiality of any of those conversations that someone had with me."

The governor said he knows some of the individuals who have made accusations against Grossberg and "I hate that they've gone through what they've gone through."

"I hope that people see or hear today that we will listen, that they will be believed, and that no one should use a position of authority to make anyone else feel unsafe or harassed," the governor said. "Now, it's important that in a world where we still see far too much conduct that's just totally unacceptable for people to know that if they choose to speak out, they'll be heard."

As for calls to change the Legislative Ethics Code to prevent a lawmaker from engaging in conduct like the incidents Grossberg has been accused of, Beshear said a stronger code is needed as well as stronger enforcement of it.