Wesley Goodman (born February 14, 1984) is an American Republican politician who served as the Ohio State Representative for the 87th District from 2016 until his resignation in 2017. His former district consists of Crawford,

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and

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counties, as well as portions of Marion and

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counties. On November 14, 2017, Goodman resigned his seat following alleged "inappropriate behavior" in his state office, later revealed as extramarital sexual activity with a man.

Early life

Goodman was born into a family of farmers and

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s,"Goodman announces bid for Republican nod for 87th district"
'' The Morrow County Sentinel''. June 30, 2015. and is a native of

Cardington, Ohio Cardington is a village in Morrow County, Ohio, United States. The population was 2,047 at the 2010 census. Mount Gilead, Ohio, the county seat, is located northeast of Cardington on U.S. Route 42. History A post office called Cardington was es ...

. He graduated in 2006 from

Ohio Wesleyan University Ohio Wesleyan University (OWU) is a private liberal arts college in Delaware, Ohio. It was founded in 1842 by methodist leaders and Central Ohio residents as a nonsectarian institution, and is a member of the Ohio Five – a consortium ...

, where he majored in politics and government.

Political career

Goodman worked briefly for former U.S. senator and Ohio attorney general

Mike DeWine Richard Michael DeWine (; born January 5, 1947) is an American politician and attorney serving as the 70th and current governor of Ohio. A member of the Republican Party, DeWine began his career as a prosecutor before being elected to the Oh ...

before joining the staff of U.S. representative Jim Jordan (R-OH). By 2013, Goodman was serving as the managing director of the Conservative Action Project. In June 2015, Goodman announced his candidacy for the District 87 seat in the Ohio House of Representatives. Jeffrey McClain, the District 87 representative at the time, could not run again in 2016 due to term limits. In the March 2016 Republican primary, Goodman defeated former state representative Steve Reinhard with 41% of the vote; Reinhard had represented the same seat from 2001 to 2008. Goodman ran unopposed in the 2016 general election. His term began on January 4, 2017. In October 2015, an 18-year-old man accused Goodman of sexually assaulting him. This was reported to Tony Perkins, head of the

Family Research Council The Family Research Council (FRC) is an American evangelical activist group and think-tank with an affiliated lobbying organization. FRC promotes what it considers to be family values. It opposes and lobbies against: access to pornography, emb ...

, who confronted Goodman about the allegation and referred to other "similar incidents." Perkins withdrew his political support, but Goodman did not withdraw his candidacy for the Ohio legislature and was elected in 2016. These incidents were apparently never reported to the police and did not become public knowledge until after Goodman's resignation.

Marriage, sex scandal, and resignation

Goodman described himself as a supporter of "traditional marriage," having told constituents that the "ideals of a loving father and mother, a committed natural marriage, and a caring community are well worth pursuing and protecting." In 2012 he married Bethany Peck, an assistant director of the

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and a former staffer for U.S. representative

Bob Latta Robert Edward Latta (born April 18, 1956) is an American politician who is the United States representative for , serving since 2007. He is a member of the Republican Party. The district includes many of Toledo's suburbs, as well as Findlay, B ...

; they had no children and subsequently divorced. Goodman resigned his office November 14, 2017, after a non-staffer witnessed him and an unnamed adult male having consensual sexual relations in Goodman's office. The Speaker of the Ohio House, a Republican, Cliff Rosenberger, described the incident as "inappropriate behavior related to his state office."

Current status

As of 2021, according to his

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profile, he is a store manager at

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Polaris Fashion Place Polaris Fashion Place is a two level shopping mall and surrounding retail plaza serving Columbus, Ohio, United States. The mall, owned locally by Washington Prime Group, is located off Interstate 71 on Polaris Parkway in Delaware County just to t ...

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...

.LinkedIn profile for Wesley Goodman
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References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goodman, Wes 1984 births Living people Republican Party members of the Ohio House of Representatives Ohio Wesleyan University alumni 21st-century American politicians People from Cardington, Ohio