Richard L. Curtis (born March 8, 1959) is an American firefighter and politician from

La Center, Washington La Center is a town in Clark County, Washington, United States. The population was 2,800 at the 2010 census. History In the 1870s, La Center was a business center and head of navigation on the East Fork of the Lewis River. In late summer, t ...

. He served as a

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

member of the

Washington State House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Legislature, and along with the Washington State Senate makes up the legislature of the U.S. state of Washington. It is composed of 98 Representatives from 49 dis ...

from Washington's 18th legislative district in Position 1 from 2005 to 2007. The district is located in rural

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone who was educate ...

and

Cowlitz Cowlitz may refer to: People * Cowlitz people, an indigenous people of the Pacific Northwest ** Cowlitz language, member of the Tsamosan branch of the Coast Salish family of Salishan languages * Cowlitz Indian Tribe, a federally recognized tribe of ...

counties.

Election and voting record

Curtis was elected to the La Center City Council. He was elected to the State House of Representatives on November 2, 2004, succeeding Republican Tom Mielke. Curtis faced no primary opposition, and won the general election with 56.5 percent of the vote in a race against Democratic candidate Pam Brokaw. He took office in January 2005 and was re-elected in 2006, winning with 59.1 percent of the vote against his Democratic opponent Jonathan Fant. Curtis, who is married with two daughters, built up a socially conservative voting record while in office. In 2006, he opposed a gay rights bill that banned discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In spring 2007, he voted against domestic partnerships for gay and lesbian couples.

Resignation

On October 30, 2007, the '' Spokesman-Review'' newspaper for the city of

Spokane Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...

released the results of an investigation that established that Curtis had met another man, Cody Castagna, in an

adult bookstore A sex shop is a retailer that sells products related to adult sexual or erotic entertainment, such as sex toys, lingerie, pornography, and other related products. An early precursor of the modern sex shop was a chain of stores set up in th ...

, with whom he later had sex in a local hotel room. Curtis was also alleged to have been seen previously and on that occasion clad in women's clothing, wearing them underneath his own. According to a police statement from Curtis, Castagna attempted to extort $1,000 from him after the encounter in return for not revealing his "gay lifestyle" to his family. Based on this statement, Curtis brought formal

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

charges against Castagna. Castagna has denied all accusations of the extortion, which is a Class B

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "félonie") to describe an offense that resu ...

. A statement by his lawyer asserted, "This is an extremely low-level situation that's being blown out of proportion by somebody who is trying to save themselves." The lawyer stated further that "this guy (Castagna) didn't do anything wrong – at that level, anyway." Curtis at first denied having had sex with the man, contradicting his own statements to police. He resigned from the Washington State House of Representatives on October 31, 2007, and issued a statement:

Today I submitted my letter of resignation to Governor Gregoire effective immediately. While I believe we've done some good and helped a lot of people during the time I served in the Legislature, events that have recently come to light have hurt a lot of people. I sincerely apologize for any pain my actions may have caused. This has been damaging to my family, and I don't want to subject them to any additional pain that might result from carrying out this matter under the scrutiny that comes with holding public office.

According to analysis by ''

The Olympian ''The Olympian'' is a newspaper based in Olympia, Washington, in the United States. History Olympia was home to the first newspaper to be published in modern-day Washington, ''The Columbian'', which published its first edition on September 11, ...

'', the Republican leadership in the state moved to attempt to control the damage of Curtis's resignation, issuing statements of their own. State House Republican Leader

Richard DeBolt Richard Charles DeBolt (born November 3, 1965) is an American politician of the Republican Party. He was a member of the Washington House of Representatives The Washington House of Representatives is the lower house of the Washington State Le ...

said he was "disappointed" and that Curtis "can no longer effectively represent the constituents who elected him".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtis, Richard 1959 births Living people Republican Party members of the Washington House of Representatives Portland Community College alumni