10 Scandal-Plagued Democrats Who Remain on ActBlue

ActBlue, the fundraising platform used universally by Democratic candidates across the country, made waves last Thursday when it kicked New York governor Andrew Cuomo off the platform.

Cuomo, who has now resigned from office after he was accused by at least 11 women of sexual harassment, was the first high-profile Democrat ever removed from the powerful fundraising engine. His removal came just days after a Washington Free Beacon report on his then-active page.

ActBlue did not respond to inquiries on whether a new standard has been adopted for active participants, a group that includes several politicians who face accusations ranging from spousal abuse to child sex crimes.

Here are 10 Democrats from around the country whose days could be numbered on ActBlue.

John Thompson

Thompson is a Minnesota lawmaker who repeatedly abused his girlfriend and spent time in jail for assault. After one of his attacks, the girlfriend told the police Thompson told her, “I’ll choke you until you can’t breathe anymore.” Minnesota’s Democratic governor, Tim Walz, has repeatedly called for Thompson’s resignation. His ActBlue page remains active.

Justin Fairfax

Fairfax, Virginia’s lieutenant governor, faced calls for his resignation from fellow Democrats after he was accused in 2019 of sexually assaulting a women. His ActBlue page remains active.

Tony Navarrete

The former Arizona lawmaker was arrested last week and faces seven felony charges for allegedly sexually molesting a 12-year-old boy. Navarrete, a close ally of Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), resigned on Tuesday. His ActBlue page remains active.

Luis Sepulveda

Sepulveda, a New York state senator, was arrested in January after strangling his estranged wife. He was charged with criminal obstruction of breathing. New York Democrats immediately stripped him of committee assignments. His ActBlue page remains active.

Al Franken

Franken, a former Minnesota senator, resigned from the Senate after multiple women accused Franken of groping and photos emerged of him with women in compromising positions. In one instance, Franken allegedly tried to force a congressional staffer to kiss him, telling the woman, “It’s my right as an entertainer.” Franken’s Midwest Values PAC raised over $200,000 through ActBlue in the last filing period, according to campaign finance documents. His ActBlue page remains active.

Tom Carper

Carper, a longtime senator from Joe Biden’s home state of Delaware, has admitted to hitting his ex-wife so hard that he gave her a black eye, the Washington Free Beacon reported in 2017. Carper has lied about the incident throughout his political career, and is raising money for his 2024 reelection campaign. His ActBlue page remains active.

Michelle Lujan Grisham

Lujan Grisham, the governor of New Mexico, grabbed an aide’s crotch during a staff meeting and has since paid the aide over $60,000 from her campaign fund. Lujan Grisham “took a water bottle and dumped it on my crotch and then slapped and grabbed me in front of everybody,” the Democratic aide said in 2019. Leaders in New Mexico’s state legislature accused the governor of misusing taxpayer funds to push back on the accusations. Her ActBlue page remains active.

Joe Morrissey

Morrissey, a longtime Virginia state senator, served jail time for having a sexual relationship with his teenage secretary. Although he denied the sexual relationship, he later married the teenager and admitted that he was the father of her child. He resigned from Virginia’s House of Delegates in 2014 after he was convicted of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Virginia has disbarred him on multiple occasions. His ActBlue page remains active.

Katie Hill

Hill, a former California congresswoman, resigned in 2019 after reports on inappropriate sexual relationships with several of her staffers. Hill was at one time in a “throuple” with her husband and a female campaign staffer. Since resigning, Hill created the HER Time PAC to “support young women running for office” and is reportedly considering another run for political office. Her ActBlue page remains active.

Alcee Hastings

Hastings, the now-deceased longtime Florida congressman, is one of just 19 federal officials to be impeached by the House of Representatives. While serving as a federal judge in 1989, Hastings was caught engaging in a “corrupt conspiracy” to extort a bribe worth $150,000 on a case before him. In a bipartisan vote, the Senate voted 69 to 26 that Hastings was guilty, stripping him of his lifetime pension. It was the first time a federal official was ever impeached and removed for a crime for which a jury had acquitted him. His ActBlue page remains active.