Foley out

Updated below

This sure didn't take long. I just read he had been outed this morning on TPM Muckraker:

WASHINGTON - Rep. Mark Foley (news, bio, voting record), R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he said in a statement issued by his office.

I'm not sure what this does in terms of the Congressional race in Florida. I'll report back when I learn something.

Is it my imagination, or does it seem as though there are more of these kinds of things going on than usual? I don't think you can chalk this one up to the Rethuglican culture of corruption. This is obviously a mental aberration, not just ordinary corruption. But, still, it seems as though there have been quite a number of pedophilia cases cropping up among Republican hacks.

Update:

This was rated a "safe" Republican seat up till now. I'm still trying to find out what Florida law permits in terms of mounting a replacement candidate. Tim Mahoney is the Democratic challenger.

Update II:

This is strange. According to a commenter at MyDD, the ballots must remain unchanged under Florida law. However, all votes for Foley will automatically be awarded to his Republican replacement. Frankly, I don't know how that plays out. With Foley in disgrace, many may chose not to vote for him. On the other hand, many may not even know he's in disgrace and will vote for him because he's a Republican, thus giving their vote to whomever the Thugs pick to replace him.