Republican Pam Roach Endorsed By Democrats Because Her Opponent Matt Richardson Is a 'Child Molester'

Yvonne Ward is Pam Roach's biggest fan. In 2006, Ward tried unsuccessfully to unseat Roach from her perch in the 31st Senate District. And only yesterday, Ward wrote that she "disagrees with [Roach] on so many policy issues." So why are Ward and two other Democrats urging voters to re-elect the Republican Roach this November? Because they say her opponent, Matt Richardson (pictured at right), is a "child molester."

Rick Anderson wrote about Richardson's candidacy last month, describing it as a "gift" to the temperamental Roach, a pol so universally loathed she was booted out of her own caucus.

Richardson and Roach have been squabbling since July, when she sued him for defamation. She's also gleefully made hay of an accusation that Richardson, while a Sumner city council member, used city e-mail to set up hotel liaisons with a mistress and an August traffic ticket for going 42 miles per hour over the speed limit.

But those more recent revelations aren't why Democrats like Ward are reluctantly backing Roach.

Back in 1993, Richardson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor sex crime. Two distant relatives had accused Richardson of sexual assaulting them over the course of three years when he was 16 and they were eight and five.

Richardson's charge was later dismissed. To this day he says he was falsely accused, only admitting that, at some point, he had played doctor with the younger girls, asking them to pull down their pants so he could look at their genitals.

But Ward and her fellow Democrats clearly don't believe Richardson's explanation. "Given the choice between a conservative Republican, and a conservative Republican with a history of sexual assaults against children, Pam Roach gets my vote," wrote Ward.

(H/T: HorsesAss)