2010 Reelection and Retirement
On October 10, 2009, Massa announced his plans for re-election, saying, "I don’t want to play games with people about speculation, I want to be very direct and candid."
On a press conference call on March 3, 2010, Massa announced that his cancer had returned and that he would not seek re-election. In his statement, Massa addressed allegations of sexual harassment, but claimed he would stay on for the remainder of his term.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer confirmed that the House Ethics Committee was investigating allegations against Massa of sexual misconduct as the result of a complaint that a senior member of Massa's staff had filed with the committee on February 8, 2010. The investigation was said to involve alleged sexual advances and harassment toward a younger male member of Massa's staff. Though Massa described his behavior and his language as "salty," he claimed that he had apologized to the parties in question, did not know of the specific allegations, and that such allegations were not the reason behind his retirement.
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Famous quotes containing the words reelection and/or retirement:
“Gentlemen, those confederate flags and our national standard are what has made this union great. In what other country could a man who fought against you be permitted to serve as judge over you, be permitted to run for reelection and bespeak your suffrage on Tuesday next at the poles.”
—Laurence Stallings (1894–1968)
“The student who secures his coveted leisure and retirement by systematically shirking any labor necessary to man obtains but an ignoble and unprofitable leisure, defrauding himself of the experience which alone can make leisure fruitful.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)