A Republican state senator from West Virginia is being asked to step down by his local GOP party chair after being arrested on a drunk driving charge — his second arrest in as many months.
State Sen. Mike Maroney, who was first elected in 2016, was arrested in August on a charge of indecent exposure.
“While the legal process must take its course, the perception of impropriety and the repeated legal entanglements surrounding Senator Maroney have brought discredit to the West Virginia Senate,” Ethan Moore, chairman of the Monongalia County Republican Executive Committee, said in a statement. “We believe it is in the best interest of Senate District 2 and the state for Senator Maroney to resign, restoring public trust and the integrity of the Senate.”
Moore’s committee passed a resolution calling on Maroney to resign, and urging Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who is seeking a U.S. Senate seat, to empower the the state Senate to expel or censure him if he does not voluntarily step down.
Maroney did not immediately respond to an email for comment Friday night.
He was defeated in the Republican primary in May, and his term is set to expire in January.
Maroney had been chair of the state Senate Health and Human Resources Committee but was stripped of his post after he was arrested on Aug. 4 for allegedly exposing himself while inside the video lottery room at Gumby’s Cigarette & Beer World in Glen Dale, The Associated Press reported.
On Monday, Maroney was arrested and charged with driving under the influence after being stopped for driving erratically in a school zone, WTRF.com reported, citing the criminal complaint.
Maroney was also arrested for soliciting prostitution in 2019, a charge that was later dropped, the Intelligencer & Wheeling News Register reported, separately noting that he has pleaded not guilty in his two most recent arrests.