Andrea Ramsey, Kansas Democratic Congressional candidate, drops out amid sexual harassment allegations

Democratic Congressional candidate Andrea Ramsey announced Friday she would leave the race for Kansas’ 3rd District U.S. House seat because of allegations of sexual harassment.

Ramsey was running for the seat currently held by Congressman Kevin Yoder, a Republican. The district includes Kansas City suburbs and surrounding areas.

The Kansas City Star reported Ramsey decided to drop out after the paper asked about a 2005 lawsuit involving her former company, LabOne. According to the Star, a former employee of the company claimed in a lawsuit that he was fired for refusing to have sex with Ramsey.

Ramsey denied the allegations in a news release announcing her decision.

“Twelve years ago, I eliminated an employee’s position,” Ramsey said. “That man decided to bring a lawsuit against the company (not against me). He named me in the allegations, claiming I fired him because he refused to have sex with me. That is a lie.”

Ramsey said she wasn’t able to defend herself because the lawsuit was brought against her company. She claimed she was caught up by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s zero tolerance policy, which caused it to decide not to support her campaign.

“On balance, it is far more important to me that women are stepping forward to tell their stories and confront their harassers than it is to continue our campaign,” Ramey said. “But, DCCC’s decision is bad for Democratic chances to flip KS-03. Our campaign has amassed hundreds of committed volunteers, thousands of individual donations, endorsements and national attention.”

The accusation against Ramsey comes amid a national conversation about sexual harassment and sexual assault. Several prominent members of Hollywood and media circles have been fired over numerous accusations. Republican Roy Moore lost a Senate race to Democrat Doug Jones in deep-red Alabama after being accused of pursing relationships with teenage girls while in his 30s.

Ramsey supported the increased national attention on the issue of sexual harassment while denying her allegations and criticized the DCCC for not supporting her campaign.

The DCCC “must live with the consequences of its shortsighted and reactive decision to eviscerate our campaign by not providing it with structural or financial support,” Ramsey said.

The DCCC hasn’t yet endorsed a candidate in the race. Meredith Kelly, DCCC’s communications director, said in a statement that representatives and candidates should be “held to the highest standard.”

“If anyone is guilty of sexual harassment or sexual assault, that person should not hold public office,” Kelly said.