Missouri Legislator Faces Reprimand Over Inappropriate Text During Redistricting Demonstration

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – On Thursday, Missouri legislators officially censured a state representative for sending an explicit text message to a fellow lawmaker amid a protest against a congressional redistricting plan supported by former President Donald Trump.

Democratic Representative Jeremy Dean faced several consequences, including removal from House committee assignments, a mandate to maintain a minimum distance of 50 feet from the affected colleague, and a requirement to complete additional sexual harassment training. His seating and parking privileges might also be altered.

The recipient of the inappropriate text message argued for Dean’s expulsion from his legislative post.

“In any other workplace, such a message would be cause for immediate dismissal — no exceptions,” stated Republican Representative Cecelie Williams. “We must not tolerate behavior within the Capitol that would be unacceptable elsewhere.”

While Williams, a survivor of domestic abuse, recounted how the message had resurfaced painful memories and heightened her sense of vulnerability in the Capitol, Dean remained silent in the House chamber.

The Republican-majority House voted 138-10 in favor of the reprimand, proceeding without further debate following Williams’ remarks.

Dean was one of several lawmakers who staged a sit-in on the House floor during a September special session on redistricting. He slept and ate meals in the chamber for days in protest of a Republican plan to redraw the state’s U.S. House districts to boost the party’s chances of winning an additional seat in this year’s elections.

While in the House chamber on the evening of Sept. 4, Dean sent the text message to Williams as she was participating in a House Elections Committee meeting in the basement of the Capitol. The message included a description of a sex act with the president.

An ethics complaint was filed against Dean, trigging an internal House investigation.

Dean acknowledged that the text message was inappropriate and unprofessional and wrote a letter apologizing, according to a report filed by the House Ethics Committee, which unanimously recommended the penalties imposed by the House.

But Williams said Dean’s apology did not seem sincere.

House Minority Leader Ashley Aune already had removed Dean from his committee assignments in September, when the text message became public.

Dean is among at least 157 state lawmakers across the U.S. who have been accused of sexual misconduct or harassment since 2017, according to a tally by The Associated Press.

Last week, Nebraska state Sen. Dan McKeon resigned ahead of scheduled debate to expel him from the body after accusations that he made a sexually charged comment to a legislative staffer and touched her inappropriately during an end-of-session party last year.

Also last week, former South Carolina state Rep. RJ May was sentenced to 17 1/2 years in prison for sending hundreds of videos of children being sexually abused to people across the country on social media. May had resigned in August and pleaded guilty in September for what prosecutors called a “five-day child pornography spree” in the spring of 2024.