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The Indiana Senate Democratic Caucus announced Wednesday that they have ousted Sen. Greg Taylor of Indianapolis as their leader, just a day after The Indianapolis Star published a new round of allegations from women who say he sexually harassed them.
In a statement released at about 5:30 p.m., the caucus said it had elected Sen. Shelli Yoder of Bloomington to replace Taylor.
The move comes one month after the caucus reelected Taylor to be the Senate’s minority leader, the same day IndyStar published its first story about accusations against Taylor.
That story included allegations of unwanted physical contact and a romantic pursuit of an intern that covered eight years. In the November story, Taylor did not deny the harassment. Instead, he apologized for past behavior that “may have blurred the lines.”
But on Wednesday, after IndyStar published the additional allegations, Taylor vehemently denied all wrongdoing.
The IndyStar story on Tuesday said that three more women have accused Taylor “of abusing his position as a lawmaker by making unwanted advances, touching them without permission and, in one case, forcibly kissing a legislative intern against her will after following her into the women’s bathroom at a downtown bar.”
Taylor said on Wednesday that he would “absolutely” step down if the accusations were found to be credible.
A few hours later, the caucus announced new leadership, including Sen. Andrea Hunley of Indianapolis, who will serve as assistant minority leader.
The caucus also elected Sen. Rodney Pol Jr. of Chesterton as caucus chair, Sen. La Keisha Jackson of Indianapolis as assistant caucus chair, and Sen. J.D. Ford of Indianapolis as caucus whip.
“The caucus is united in its vision and commitment to addressing the most pressing issues facing Indiana,” the group said in a statement.
The Senate’s leader—President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville—issued a statement Wednesday evening that did not address the accusations against Taylor. Instead, he focused on the Democratic caucus’ new leadership.
“Our counterparts in the Senate minority have traditionally added value to the legislative process, and I expect that trend to continue,” the statement read. “I look forward to working with Sen. Yoder in her new leadership position as we work to improve our state for all Hoosiers.”
Shortly before the Democratic caucus announcement on Wednesday, Taylor directly responded to reporter questions in an impromptu availability following a leadership panel at a downtown legislative conference. He strongly denied the sexual harassment allegations.
It was the first time Taylor had answered questions since the IndyStar first published allegations of sexual harassment against him. In all, six women have accused the politician of some kind of sexual harassment.
Previously, Taylor read from a prepared statement and declined to respond to questions in a public appearance.
“My focus is going to be working with the Legislature to try to get public policy passed,” Taylor said Wednesday. “I’m not going to address those issues … from over 15 years ago that are false—and that’s the way I’m going to proceed.”
Taylor then spoke with reporters for another 11 minutes, repeatedly and vehemently denying any misconduct and pointing to the previous support of his caucus in his reelection to Senate minority leader.
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Should have done that to begin with.
They have to be forced.
Well, there are only 10 to choose from, so they can’t be too picky.