ALBANY — GOP assemblywomen urged their Democratic sisters to stop the “war on women” by booting Sheldon Silver as speaker for mishandling the Vito Lopez sex scandal.
“As female members of the Assembly, we hope that our colleagues in the Democratic majority will call for a vote and elect a new speaker — someone untarnished by the corrupt culture of Albany and who will not tolerate abuses towards women,” wrote the Republicans in an open letter.
Among the signers was Nicole Malliotakis, who represents Brooklyn and Staten Island. She defeated Silver’s close pal, Janele Hyer-Spencer, for the seat in 2010.
The other co-signers include Assemblywomen Jane Corwin, from Clarence; Annie Rabbitt, from Warwick, and Claudia Tenney, from New Hartford.
“This issue is too important to be made political, and we urge our majority colleagues, both men and women, to not see red and blue, or party ideology, but to simply see right and wrong,” the GOP women wrote.
Several Democratic assemblywomen stood behind Silver Monday when the speaker both defended and apologized for his actions in the Lopez case.
Lopez, the former powerful Brooklyn Democratic leader, resigned his Assembly seat Monday following a scathing, 70-page report released by the state’s ethics commission that found he had sexually harassed as many as eight female staffers over the years.
Silver approved of a $103,000 hush-money settlement to the first two women who complained about Lopez’s repulsive behavior.
But Silver admitted he erred by not reporting the harassment complaint to the Assembly ethics panel.
Two other women subsequently complained about the Lopez harassment, prompting Silver to finally do something about it. The ethics panel substantiated the complaints — including the groping of a victim’s crotch — and Silver censured Lopez and stripped him of leadership posts.
The latter two victims are planning to file a negligence suit against Silver.
But Silver yesterday found an unexpected defender in Mayor Bloomberg.
“There is the argument that he had to make an executive decision of whether to settle or fight and I don’t know what I would have done,” said Bloomberg.
Meanwhile, “Operation de-Vito” continues.
The state Democratic Committee yesterday passed a resolution calling on Lopez to resign as elected committee member and district leader.