Married Iowa Senate leader resigns after video appears to show him kissing lobbyist

(Image credit: AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)

published 13 March 2018

He kissed a lobbyist and he liked it — until he was caught and had to resign.

Iowa Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix, a married Republican, announced on Monday he was resigning from both his leadership post and as a state senator after a website published a video and photos that appeared to show him kissing a statehouse lobbyist for the Iowa League of Cities. The website, Iowa Starting Line, said the incident was recorded on March 1 at the Waveland Tap in Des Moines.

Republican Senate President Jack Whitver said in a statement he believes Dix "made the right decision for himself and for his district, but most importantly, I believe he made the decision in the best interest of his family," while Republican Sen. Brad Zaun said he was "disappointed, and my prayers go out to Sen. Dix and his family." Iowa State Treasurer Michael Fitzgerald, a Democrat, said he wanted Dix to resign last year after a former GOP staffer sued Senate Republicans for sexual harassment and settled for $1.75 million. "When you operate with arrogance of power, it comes back to bite you," Fitzgerald said. A new majority leader will be elected on Wednesday. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.