Democratic lawmaker won’t seek reelection after racist, sexist emails: ‘Uncle Pervy’
State Rep. Gerald Brady (D-DE) announced he won’t be seeking reelection after making racist, sexist comments in an email last month.
“Is the dude basically saying, if we provide free (sex acts) for Uncle Pervie there will be few rapes and few (a slur for Chinese women) will be shipped in CONEX containers to the Port of Wilmington,” Rep. Gerald Brady (D) wrote in an email, sent on his official government account.
Brady intended to send the email to an unidentified person but instead sent it to an advocate for decriminalizing prostitution. Reports allege that Brady hit “reply” when he meant to forward the email to a different person. Brady apologized following the incident, saying his words “dehumanized” an entire culture.
“There is no excuse I can offer that explains my embarrassing and shameful words that insulted, stereotyped, and dehumanized an entire culture while making light of a serious human rights issue,” Brady wrote in a statement.
Brady first entered the Legislature in 2006 and has not faced an opponent since 2016. He is also the Executive Director of the American Federation of Labor and Congress Industrial Organization (AFL-CIO).
“I cannot in good conscience ask the voters to put their faith in me again after I betrayed theirs,” Brady said in a statement. Democratic lawmakers in the state also announced Monday that they will not pursue disciplinary proceedings against Brady that could lead to his expulsion.
“We want to be clear about something we have heard from residents this past week: As a duly elected official, only Rep. Brady can make a decision about his political future. House leadership cannot unilaterally take action,” House Speaker Pete Schwartzkopf (D), Majority Leader Valerie Longhurst (D), and Majority Whip Larry Mitchell (D) said in a joint statement.
However, Schwarzkopf, Mitchell, and Longhurst could authorize an investigation into complaints that a lawmaker violated the rules of legislative conduct since all three are members of the House Ethics Committee.
Among the rules of legislative conduct are: “A member shall not engage in conduct which the House determines (i) brings the House into disrepute or (ii) reflects adversely on the member’s fitness to hold legislative office.”
Ethics committee rules state that any House member, including any committee member, can file a complaint. If a majority votes that the complaint has been proven, the committee can then, by majority vote, recommend that the House take “appropriate action” up to and including expulsion of the lawmaker.
Despite describing Brady’s remarks as “racist, reprehensible, sexist, and indefensible,” Democratic lawmakers in Delaware seem to believe that sensitivity training would suffice in lieu of an ethics investigation.
“While we do not believe our colleagues harbor such views, it would be beneficial for them to learn of any microaggressions or other attitudes or actions that negatively impact the Asian American community, and how we all can take steps to improve our relationships with the community,” Democratic leaders said.