Match the Political Scandal to the City it Rocked

by Jason English

All politics is local. And a lot of local politics is ridden with scandal. Read my lips: this quiz is a hard one. A graduate-level test of your knowledge of corruption. Match the political scandal to the city it rocked.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Annapolis, Maryland

Kansas City, Missouri

Omaha, Nebraska

Spokane, Washington

Washington, DC

Watertown, Massachusetts

Frankfort, Kentucky

Trenton, New Jersey

Albany, NY

Sol Wachtler, Chief Judge of [his state's] Court of Appeals, pled guilty to harassing his former mistress Joy Silverman and her teenage daughter. Wachtler had written her harassing letters in the guise of a fictional alter ego, and mailed a condom to her young daughter.

In 1983, State Senator Tommie Broadwater was convicted of handling illegally obtained food stamps through a suburban supermarket he owned. Witnesses said Senator Broadwater, a 41-year-old Democrat, redeemed at full value more than $46,000 worth of food stamps he had processed through his supermarket after buying them at 60 cents on the dollar.

Mayor James West, an opponent of gay rights, came under investigation for offering municipal jobs to men he met in gay online chat rooms. West was ousted in a recall vote December 2005.

Marilyn Petitto Devaney is due in District Court on May 16, 2007, when she will face an assault charge stemming from an April 13 incident at a local beauty supply store. According to police, she is accused of tossing a curling iron at a clerk who had refused to accept a check for the item without first seeing Devaney's driver's license.

Governor Jim McGreevey's term was mired in controversy, from questions about his staff's credentials to Pay-to-Play and extortion scandals involving many of his supporters. He resigned in 2004, after admitting to having an extramarital affair with his former homeland security advisor.

While they were never convicted, city councilman Chuck Sigerson and former Election Commissioner Pat McPherson were embroiled in controversy over an accusation of groping a teenage girl. At the time, the girl was wearing a mascot costume. McPherson was acquitted. Sigerson's trial ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a verdict.

City councilman Jerry Springer was forced to resign in 1974 after admitting to hiring a prostitute. The episode was uncovered when a police raid on a "massage parlor" unearthed a check Springer had written for its "services". He came clean at a press conference, and his honesty helped him win back his seat in 1975.

On January 18, 1990, Mayor Marion Barry was arrested at the Vista Hotel with a former girlfriend, Hazel "Rasheeda" Moore, for crack cocaine use and possession. The incident – played over and over on television – produced what is perhaps the most memorable quote of Barry's long career: "G**damn setup...I'll be g**damn . B**ch set me up."

In 1939, Thomas "Boss Tom" Pendergast was arraigned for failing to pay taxes on a bribe received to pay off gambling debts. He served fifteen months in prison.

State Treasurer James William Tate had a nickname: "Honest Dick." This was earned by his good reputation and rapport with colleagues. The nickname turned out to be rather ironic. In 1888, Tate fled with nearly a quarter of a million dollars he'd stolen from the state's treasury. He was never found.

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