ICYMI: Unreal Number of Sex Scandal Republican Candidates Exposed [Daily Beast]

The Daily Beast: “Republicans heading into the 2026 Senate cycle are assembling a truly astonishing collection of candidates tied to underage sex scandals, abuse allegations, and Epstein-world baggage”

In case you missed it, a new report from The Daily Beast exposes how Republican Senate candidates are being dragged down by their ties to “underage sex scandals, abuse allegations, and Epstein-world baggage.” 

In battleground states across the country, GOP Senate candidates have to answer for their ties to convicted child sex offenders, associates of Jeffrey Epstein, and individuals charged with sex trafficking and other disturbing abuse allegations.

See for yourself:

Daily Beast: Unreal Number of Sex Scandal Republican Candidates Exposed

• Republicans heading into the 2026 Senate cycle are assembling a truly astonishing collection of candidates tied to underage sex scandals, abuse allegations, and Epstein-world baggage.
• They’re all over the US map, so let’s start in North Carolina where former GOP chair Michael Whatley is catching flak for appointing Harvey L. West Jr. to a key leadership role inside the state party despite warnings from fellow Republicans. That role was leading the influential Plan of Organization committee, which holds significant sway over party rule making.
• West, now 54 […] served six years in prison after a 1999 plea deal stemming from charges that he raped a teenage girl.
• Now, parents groups and Democrats, including former governor turned Senate rival Roy Cooper, are turning the scandal into campaign fuel, questioning Whatley’s judgment and demanding an explanation. Some of Whatley’s own party joined the critics, reminding voters that Whatley appointed West over the objections of some conservatives.
• Moving north to Ohio we find GOP candidate Jon Husted who accepted more than $116,000 over the years from Jeffrey Epstein associate […] Les Wexner.
• Now we realize that Wexner is a generous guy who reportedly gifted Epstein with a 7-story, 40-room mansion on East 71st just off Fifth so what’s a few thousand dollars tossed to Husted right before a vote to release the Epstein files last year?
• Wexner’s name appears in the files more than 4,000 times. Husted, unsurprisingly, voted to block the release. […] Beyond Wexner, Husted seems to be making a habit of accepting help from alleged creeps. For instance, he touted the endorsement of Ohio state Rep. Rodney Creech who, according to Bureau of Criminal Investigation documents obtained by Statehouse News Bureau, was accused by an underage relative of sexual misconduct […]. Husted is also backed by Rep. Josh Williams who reportedly posted sexually explicit and degrading content on Facebook […]
• In Alaska, Dan Sullivan voted against releasing the Epstein files and received a donation tied to former Alaska GOP operative Craig Valdez, who is now facing federal child exploitation and sex trafficking charges
• On the opposite side of the country in New Hampshire, the GOP Senatorial candidate is being hammered by opponents after his name surfaced in an Epstein email who wrote “John Sununu has good stories.” […]
• Iowa Republican Ashley Hinson is also facing scrutiny for keeping donations from billionaire donor John W. Childs, who was charged in 2019 as part of a Florida massage parlor and sex trafficking sting.
• Michigan’s Mike Rogers is also facing questions over one of his campaign faith leaders, Tim Cross, who admitted he didn’t believe victims of sex crimes involving three elders linked to his church
  
• The Swamp has reached out to the Republican National Senatorial Committee but it has yet to respond. But with five months until the midterms, the GOP’s “family values” brand is starting to look less like a campaign slogan and more like an opposition research file.