Nate Boulton this month pledged that his campaign would not face sexual misconduct accusations

Kevin Hardy , Brianne Pfannenstiel | The Des Moines Register

Show Caption Hide Caption Video: Three women accuse Nate Boulton of sexual misconduct Three women have accused Iowa Democratic gubernatorial candidate and state Sen. Nate Boulton of inappropriate sexual conduct.

Iowa Sen. Nate Boulton pledged that his gubernatorial campaign would not be plagued by allegations of sexual misconduct just days before three women accused the Democratic lawmaker of sexual misconduct.

Dave Price, WHO-TV political director and anchor, cited sexual misconduct scandals in the New York Attorney General's office and the Iowa Finance Authority in an interview with Boulton earlier this month.

"Can you tell Iowans that you can assure them that you would not face any kind of inappropriate accusations, credible allegations, all those kind of things, as a leader?" Price asked.

"No, there's nothing like that," Boulton said. "But I will say I've taken the extra step of making sure that I've stood up for victims. I've done that as a workers' rights attorney for 12 years for victims of sexual assault and harassment in the workplace."

On Wednesday, the Des Moines Register has published complaints from three women who accuse the lawmaker of sexual misconduct. One woman said Boulton, now 38, repeatedly grabbed her buttocks at a bar in 2015. Two others told the Register that when Boulton was in law school more than a decade ago, he rubbed his clothed crotch against them, pressing his erect penis into their thighs.

Boulton, who announced in May 2017 he would seek the Democratic nomination for governor, did not deny the allegations.

“I don’t have the same recollection,” he said. “But I am not going to offer any additional context to this, other than to say if someone’s perspective is that it was inappropriate and I crossed a line and I misread a situation in a social setting, I do apologize.”

He declined to comment on or discuss the specific incidents, saying, “I think if I add context it quickly becomes victim-blaming, and I don’t want to go down that path.”

On Wednesday, he also drew a line between "conduct in employment settings" and the behavior of which he is accused.

"The next layer of the conversation that needs to be had of social boundaries, and I think there is a discussion that we can and should have on that," he said.

More: ‘I apologize publicly,’ governor candidate Nate Boulton says of accusations of sexual misconduct

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Boulton on Wednesday defended his record of working to counteract sexual harassment, discrimination and retaliation in the workplace. Indeed, he has often positioned himself as an advocate for women, citing both his work as a labor attorney and a legislator.

He's been a frequent critic of Senate Republicans for their handling of an in-house sexual harassment scandal. He staged a women’s rally in Cedar Rapids during his campaign to win the Democratic nomination for Iowa governor. And Boulton has introduced legislation to mandate equal pay for men and women, arguing such a measure would help stamp out sexual harassment on the job.

Here's a look at the senator's comments on those issues in the past.

Boulton was ‘truly disturbed’ by Senate sexual harassment charges

In a May 13 Democratic debate, a moderator asked Boulton what he took away from the national #MeToo movement and how it had affected him personally.

“It’s one of the reasons why I became a workers’ rights attorney, to stand up for people who have been discriminated against, who have been assaulted or harassed,” he answered. “And I’ve been proud to see so many women step up and show that it does take courage but also that people in the community are going to be there to be supportive.”

During the KWQC/Quad City Times debate, Boulton criticized the way Republican lawmakers responded to a sexual harassment complaint within the Iowa Senate. Kirsten Anderson, a former communications director for Senate Republicans, was fired in May 2013 just seven hours after submitting a memo detailing her concerns about a toxic work environment. Anderson said supervisors in the Iowa Senate Republican caucus office struggled to curb a “locker room” environment where jokes about sex and race were the norm.

“As someone who is a member of the Iowa Senate, I was truly disturbed by what happened with Senate Republicans,” Boulton said. “We saw an egregious example. State government should not be the bad example that people look to, to say that they don’t want to be part of that kind of workplace. And I’ve worked with Republicans and Democrats to make sure we never see a headline like that again.”

Boulton: 'If I crossed a line... I apologize' Listen as Sen. Nate Boulton, Democratic candidate for governor, offers his perspective on allegations of sexual misconduct.

As someone with experience representing victims in court, Boulton said he was “embarrassed by what we’ve seen in state government these past few years.”

Specifically, he condemned what he called “a culture of retaliation and intimidation” for those who have spoken up about harassment in state workplaces. And he pledged to eliminate retaliation and intimidation if he were elected governor.

“I also think we need to make our workplaces more than just safe for women,” he said. “We need to make sure women are treated as actual equals in our workplace. And that starts with the state leading by example.”

Boulton: Equal pay would help stamp out sexual harassment

Boulton doubled down on that message during another Democratic debate hosted by Iowa Public Television on May 16.

Moderator David Yepsen, who covered politics and government at the Des Moines Register for more than three decades, asked Boulton how he would use the governor’s office “as a moral leader to deal with problems.”

“How will you address, say sexual harassment, anti-gay biases in our state, anti-immigrant rhetoric that we’ve heard in this state” Yepsen asked. “How would you use the moral bully pulpit of the governorship to deal with those problems?”

More: The Democrats who want to be Iowa's next governor met in debate Wednesday. Here are the key moments.

Boulton again leaned on his legal experience representing victims of sexual harassment and gender discrimination in the workplace.

“I think what we ought to be doing in state government is leading by the right example, not the negative example,” Boulton said. “I’ve co-sponsored legislation that would make sure it’s not just taxpayers who are accountable for verdicts that —.”

Yepsen interrupted: “Is there anything you would do with the governorship itself as a moral leader?”

“Sure,” Boulton said. “And one of those things is making sure we actually have equal pay for equal work in state government. We have far too much of a wage disparity for women in state government. We’re not going to eliminate sexual harassment and discrimination if women aren’t treated as equals in the workplace from the beginning.”

Boulton encouraged Republicans to 'lead by example' on sexual harassment case

Boulton weighed in on the Iowa Senate’s sexual harassment scandal several times as Anderson’s lawsuit made its way through the courts.

In July 2017, jurors awarded Anderson $2.2 million in damages. Later, in September 2017, state lawyers agreed to a $1.75 million settlement with Anderson, putting an end to the state's appeal of the ruling.

In November 2017, Boulton criticized Senate Majority Leader Bill Dix for holding onto results of an internal investigation into Anderson's firing.

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He said Dix’s response showed Republican had “not given this the very serious, thoughtful approach this deserves.” He told WHO-TV that Dix’s actions would prevent other women who have been harassed from coming forward (Dix later resigned after being filmed kissing a woman who was not his wife in a Des Moines bar).

“While Senator Dix now admits that Kirsten Anderson was sexually harassed, he continues to put off substantial action to ensure that harassment never occurs in the Republican caucus again,” Boulton said in a statement on Nov. 14.

That statement said it was time for Dix to “lead by example” to ensure corrective measures were implemented.

“Anderson was fired from her job four years ago, jurors ruled in her favor and found that the Senate Republicans violated Iowa laws preventing workplace harassment and retaliation 5 months ago, yet still today, Anderson and Iowa taxpayers have seen no actual plan to correct the issue.”

He continued to excoriate those who would retaliate against alleged victims of sexual harassment and assault.

And he said he would have stamped out sexual harassment if similar claims had been made in the offices of minority Democrats. He even floated public censure for lawmakers involved.

“We’ll if something was reported to me, I would make sure our staff and leadership do adequately investigate those accusations,” he told WHO-TV. “Make sure no one is retaliated against for bringing forward their concerns. That is the real thing that happened here in this case that was so disappointing.”

Boulton joins Women’s March and holds his own women’s rally

On January 20 of this year, Boulton marched alongside thousands of Iowa women on the one-year anniversary weekend of the 2017 Women’s March that followed President Donald Trump’s inauguration.

“The big message today was, don’t just rally and be heard today,” Boulton said at the march. “Be heard in the voting process this year to make sure we have a better path forward so we’re not seeing these kind of attacks we saw this past year carried out again next year.”

In Cedar Rapids, Boulton held a women’s rights rally on Jan. 4, just before the legislative session commenced. He was joined by Iowa Sen. Liz Mathis, D-Hiawatha, and Iowa House Democrats Todd Taylor and Art Staed, both from Cedar Rapids.

“As the legislative session begins, we must stand up for equal pay for equal work, reproductive health care, and restoring lost services for victims of sexual assault and abuse,” Boulton said on Twitter.