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How many Democratic elected officials have been charged with sexual misconduct since 2000?

Checked on November 24, 2025
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Executive summary

Available sources do not provide a single, authoritative count of how many Democratic elected officials have been charged with sexual misconduct since 2000; reporting instead compiles allegations and cases by level (federal, state) and by time period (for example, “since 2017”). The Associated Press and PBS tallies focus on state lawmakers (AP: “at least 90” state lawmakers accused since 2017 [1]; PBS: “147 lawmakers in 44 states accused since 2017” [2]), while national outlets (Newsweek, NBC, Reuters) list many individual Democratic figures but do not offer a definitive post‑2000 charge total for Democrats specifically [3] [4] [5].

1. No single authoritative tally exists in these sources

None of the provided items attempts to produce a comprehensive, party‑specific count of Democratic elected officials charged with sexual misconduct dating back to 2000; instead, they compile cases of accused officeholders overall or focus on particular time windows (for example, since 2017) or jurisdictions (state versus federal) [1] [2] [3].

2. National lists enumerate many individuals but mix allegations, investigations and charges

Newsweek, NBC and Reuters publish long lists of political figures accused of sexual misconduct and highlight notable Democratic names (Al Franken, John Conyers, Andrew Cuomo, Kevins in local politics, state legislators), but these lists typically treat allegations, ethics probes, resignations and criminal charges as separate categories and do not reduce them to a single “charged” number for Democrats since 2000 [3] [4] [5].

3. State‑level tallies focus on the post‑2017 “Weinstein/MeToo” era, not 2000–present

The Associated Press counted “over 90” state lawmakers accused of sexual misconduct since 2017 [6] [1], and PBS later reported “147 lawmakers in 44 states accused” since 2017 [2]. These figures are useful to show scope after 2017 but do not isolate Democrats nor stretch back to 2000, so they cannot directly answer “how many Democratic elected officials have been charged since 2000” [1] [2].

4. Federal‑level compilations exist but are not party‑specific totals since 2000

Wikipedia and derivative lists catalog federal political sex scandals and name Democratic figures (Brock Adams, Al Franken, John Conyers, Anthony Weiner, etc.), yet these lists are chronological narratives of incidents rather than a single party‑segmented count of criminal charges beginning in 2000 [7] [8]. Reuters’ factbox lists prominent political figures accused across parties without producing a Democratic charged‑count since 2000 [5].

5. Distinction matters: “accused” vs. “charged” vs. “investigated” vs. “alleged”

The sources repeatedly mix categories: “accused” (public allegations), “charged” (criminal charges filed), “investigated” (ethics or official probes) and “repercussions” (resignations, expulsions). For example, AP and PBS report numbers of lawmakers “accused” since 2017 [1] [2]. Newsweek and NBC compile “accused” or scandal lists that include resignations and ethics actions [3] [4]. Therefore any answer must specify which category one means; current sources do not offer a Democratic‑only “charged” tally from 2000 onward.

6. How one could build a defensible answer from these materials

A rigorous count would require: (a) defining “charged” (criminal charges filed), (b) deciding which offices to include (federal, state, local), and (c) reviewing court records and contemporaneous reporting for each named figure. The provided materials supply names, episode‑based catalogs and compilations for certain periods (notably post‑2017) but do not perform this court‑record aggregation [7] [3] [1] [2].

7. Competing perspectives and hidden agendas in reporting

Large list pieces (Newsweek, NBC) aim to document scope and may emphasize well‑known cases; agency tallies (AP, PBS) tried systematic counts for statehouses after #MeToo and therefore focus on “accused” since 2017 [3] [4] [1] [2]. Wikipedia‑style compilations are crowdsourced and mix historical scandal types and outcomes [7] [8]. Each source has implicit tradeoffs: breadth versus verification, immediacy versus completeness.

8. Bottom line for your question

Available sources do not state a single number of Democratic elected officials criminally charged with sexual misconduct since 2000. They document many individual Democratic cases and provide post‑2017 tallies of accused lawmakers overall, but they do not supply the precise party‑specific, 2000–present “charged” count you asked for [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]. If you want a defensible number, define the scope (charged vs. accused, which offices) and I can use these sources as a starting checklist to compile a candidate list to verify against court or official records.

Want to dive deeper?
How many Republican elected officials have been charged with sexual misconduct since 2000 for comparison?
What definitions and types of sexual misconduct are used in counting charges against elected officials?
Which high-profile Democratic elected officials were charged with sexual misconduct and what were the outcomes?
How have Democratic parties and institutions responded to accusations against their elected officials since 2000?
Are there patterns by office level (local, state, federal) or region in sexual misconduct charges against elected officials?