Second ethics complaint is filed against Arizona Rep. David Stringer, citing racist comments

A second colleague of embattled state Rep. David Stringer has filed an ethics complaint against the Prescott Republican, citing his past racist comments and criminal sex charges from the 1980s.

Arizona House Minority Co-Whip Reginald Bolding filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee on Tuesday.

"Based on my personal knowledge from media reports, it appears that Representative Stringer has engaged in a pattern of conduct that demonstrates that he is unfit to serve in this august body," Bolding, D-Phoenix, wrote.

Stringer didn't respond to a request for comment. He has said he was never convicted of a crime. He has accused the media of misrepresenting his comments about race, though he later apologized for some remarks.

Bolding's complaint comes a day after Republican lawmakers blocked a vote on his motion to expel Stringer, leading to a heated debate on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives.

GOP leaders said the issue should instead be investigated by the House Ethics Committee first.

Rep. Kelly Townsend, R-Mesa, filed an ethics complaint on Monday that focused on revelations that Stringer was charged with sex crimes when he lived in Maryland 35 years ago.

"I support this method, rather than expulsion, so he has opportunity to go through the correct method of deliberation," she wrote in a post on Twitter on Monday.

Stringer was charged with several offenses, at least one of which related to child pornography, in 1983, according to Maryland court records published Friday by the Phoenix New Times.

READ MORE: House Republicans block vote to expel Rep. David Stringer

He has said he has no plans to resign.

"Resigning over a 35 year old allegation for which I was not convicted and which was expunged would set an incredibly bad precedent," Stringer told a 12News reporter in a text message last week.

It's unclear, from available court records, what happened with the child-pornography charge against Stringer, or if there were multiple such charges.

New complaint adds racist comments

While Townsend's ethics complaint focuses on Stringer's history of sex charges, Bolding's complaint also emphasizes the embattled lawmaker's racist comments.

Bolding said while he disagrees with Republicans' decision to block an expulsion vote, he has decided to let the ethics investigation process play out for now, expecting it will lead to the same outcome.

"Those are things that are in the public," Bolding said of accusations against Stringer. "I believe we could have expedited things yesterday."

He added that he doesn't plan to push another expulsion vote right away because it might prompt Republicans to recess the chamber and "there's a lot of important issues, such as water, education, that quite frankly, my caucus and the people of Arizona deserve to get through."

READ MORE: Why did 67K Arizonans vote for David Stringer?

Many details of Stringer's 1983 case are unknown given the matter was reportedly expunged, meaning records of the case were erased.

Stringer told the Arizona Daily Independent, a right-leaning website, that he accepted a plea of "probation before judgment" on two misdemeanor counts to avoid the possibility of a conviction.

Not 'enough white kids' in AZ schools

Calls for Stringer's resignation started last June, when he was filmed telling a room of Republican activists that immigration poses an “existential threat” to America, adding “there aren’t enough white kids to go around” in Arizona public schools.

He continued to make waves throughout the year with controversial comments and writings about race.

OPINION: Roberts: GOP took the coward's way out on Rep. Stringer

In November, the New Times published recordings of comments Stringer made to a group of university students. Among other remarks, the lawmaker said, "African-Americans and other racial groups don't … blend in."

Last week, Stringer surprised his House colleagues when he apologized for his comments about race on the House floor.

"I believe, on reflection, I have a duty to apologize to you as my colleagues," he said. "I apologize to you. I apologize to the speaker. I apologize to our staff here at the House. And I apologize to the public."