Arizona lawmaker: Speaker made 'inappropriate' comment about female colleague's clothing

A member of the Republican leadership team in the Arizona House of Representatives said House Speaker J.D. Mesnard made "inappropriate" and "unprofessional" comments about another lawmaker's "clothing choices" during a private meeting last year, records show.

Mesnard, R-Chandler, denies making such comments regarding Rep. Michelle Ugenti-Rita, who was the first lawmaker to make a public accusation of sexual harassment against former Rep. Don Shooter.

The allegations by Rep. Kelly Townsend, the Majority Whip from Mesa, were not known outside of a small circle of lawmakers and legislative aides.

But they resurfaced weeks ago as the House of Representatives debated the expulsion of Shooter, who ultimately was accused of harassing several women with inappropriate comments and lewd behavior over many years.

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A statement issued by House Republican and Democratic leaders who attended the Feb. 16, 2017, meeting denied that Mesnard "made any disparaging comments" about Ugenti-Rita, a Scottsdale Republican.

In that statement, no other lawmakers in the meeting directly corroborated Townsend's allegations, saying no one could remember specifically what was said. But the statement from leadership suggests someone may have said something inappropriate.

'She's cold-hearted'

Townsend said that during the meeting, a House committee hearing was airing on a TV in Hearing Room 1, which tends to be cold. She said Ugenti-Rita had a transportable heater with her.

"...And the Majority Leader (Rep. John Allen, R-Scottsdale) made a comment about the fact she had her heater going," Townsend said. "The Speaker made a comment about, 'You know, if you wore warmer clothes, you wouldn't need it...' The majority leader (then) made a comment about ... 'Clothes wouldn't help her because she's cold-hearted.'

"Here we are having a conversation about the choices of Michelle Ugenti-Rita's clothing. And we have ... lawyers and staff (in the room), and I just felt it was inappropriate and it was unprofessional."

Townsend first made the allegations about Mesnard in February 2017, according to records obtained by The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. The Republic requested the documents from the House of Representatives last month under the Arizona Public Records Law.

The records show that on Feb. 16, 2017, Townsend tried to text a top Republican aide about her displeasure with the remarks.

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Townsend accidentally sent the text to the aide's landline, so it was never received, according to the House GOP spokesman. However, Townsend still had a copy of the message on her cell phone.

'Immature and massively unprofessional'

"That was wholly inappropriate, immature, and massively unprofessional for the entire room to be mocking Michelle Ugenti-Rita behind her back in front of the Democrats," Townsend wrote in the 2017 undelivered text. "To have the speaker discuss her clothing choices was ... appalling."

Townsend's text continued, "I will be sharing with her everything that was said and expect in the future that we have professional meetings. And I better not find out that these types of things are being said about me."

On Feb. 8 of this year — days after the House of Representatives expelled Shooter for a "dishonorable" pattern of workplace harassment — Townsend sent a duplicate of her 2017 missive to Ugenti-Rita.

"This is the text I was telling you about," Townsend wrote.

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According to records of the text conversation, Ugenti-Rita responded the next day, "That's right I remember you sending me this."

Townsend said she told Ugenti-Rita last year about the comments and that Ugenti-Rita thanked her for the information.

Ugenti-Rita did not respond to The Republic's request for comment.

No other lawmakers who attended the meeting would speak to The Republic.

Instead, Mesnard, Allen, Speaker Pro Tempore T.J. Shope, Minority Leader Rebecca Rios, Assistant Minority Leader Randall Friese, and Minority Whip Charlene Fernandez issued a joint statement.

'Comments ... may have been made'

The lawmakers meet privately each week to talk candidly about issues in their caucuses, the statement said.

"In order to diffuse tension while discussing what can be contentious issues, we sometimes tease and joke with one another," the statement continued.

"While comments along the lines of what Rep. Townsend has alleged may have been made, these exchanges are always in jest, generally good-natured, and made in confidence. This conversation was very brief and occurred nearly a year ago, making it difficult for leaders to remember exactly what was said or by whom. However, Speaker Mesnard did not make any disparaging comments about Rep. Ugenti-Rita."

Mesnard said Townsend's recollection that he made "fleeting" comments last year about Ugenti-Rita were inaccurate.

"She believes I made an inappropriate comment, about, I think, Miss Ugenti-Rita's clothing," Mesnard said. "I, as a general rule, don't talk about what is said in privacy, especially in a Republican-Democrat leadership situation. What is said in that room is not supposed to leave that room."

Ugenti-Rita's own behavior was scrutinized as part of the investigation of Shooter.

Republican colleagues have asked law enforcement to further investigate allegations involving her and Brian Townsend, a longtime Capitol insider who is unrelated to Rep. Townsend and was engaged to Ugenti-Rita at the time of the House probe.

Yvonne Wingett Sanchez is The Arizona Republic and azcentral.com's Governor's Office and state political reporter. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook and email her at yvonne.wingett@arizonarepublic.com.