HARTFORD, Conn. — The chairman of Connecticut’s Republican Party is calling for a Democratic state lawmaker to resign over what was taken as a lewd remark to a teenage girl.
State Rep. Ernest Hewett already has been stripped of his leadership title for the reference he made to “a snake” under his desk at last week’s budget hearing. He has said his remark came out wrong and he understood how it could be misconstrued.
Republican Party chairman Jerry Labriola said Friday that the remark was “a disgrace and an embarrassment.”
The 17-year-old girl had been testifying in support of funding for the Connecticut Science Center’s youth programs which helped her get over a fear of snakes. Hewett said: “If you’re bashful I got a snake sitting under my desk here.”