Another Republican sex scandal to unseat Pennsylvania Barbie Doll admirer - Sherwood heads for the Forest.

65 year old father of three daughters, Jesse, Dana and Maria., Pennsylvanian second hand car dealer and 4 term Congressman for the Pennsylvania 10th District , Rep. Don Sherwood , is locked in a nail biting re-election race. He is also a serial and serious liar, social scumbag and adulterer. Naval reserve Officer with 5 children, Democratic nominee Chris Carney 's hard hitting TV ads accuse him of hypocrisy and bringing "Washington values" to this paradisical rural northeastern Pennsylvania district in the Central Susquehanna Valley region.See Campaign Video

Firm jawed , "family values man", Don Sherwood is a leading member of the Christian Right, and is supported by Christian Coalition, the American Conservative Union, and the American Family Association.

In November 2005 Sherwood reached a settlement with his ex mistress of 5 years, glamorous, svelte, petite, home loving 30 year old Cynthia Ore (see pic) and settled her US$5.5Mn lawsuit (lawsuit pdf) claiming he abused her on confidential terms. (Pic location unknown but presumably the lady has just jumped out of a celebration cake at a male only dinner. Ready to handed round with the brandy.)

Apparently payment of the settlement are to be made serially and she is gagged from public comment until after the elections, on penalty of returning the money - but details of her claims have leaked out and are the talk of barbershops, bar rooms and churches.

His legal team asked the judge to prohibit disclosure of materials from the case when it was settled, warning that Sherwood's opponents might try to use the information to harm him politically. However a police report leaked by Veronica Hannevig , says that Ore called 911 on her cell phone from the bathroom of Sherwood's Capitol Hill apartment on September 15th 2004 reporting that Sherwood had choked her. When the police arrived there was a slightly different tale, and Ore reportedly said that nothing had "happened." Sherwood said that he had been giving his 29-year-old fiend a "back rub."

The incident report prepared by the police stated,

"Both parties have left out significant information or are not willing to discuss in detail what actually happened." Sherwood admitted the affair with the woman, but vehemently denied ever hurting her. Criminal charges were never filed.

Many press stories at the time are no longer available but the Times Tribune covered the incidents in detail. They reported him "punching her in the face and body - once as she was trying to fall asleep in the bed in his apartment - choking or trying to strangle her and "violently yanking" her hair."

Regan , Ore's lawyer claimed his client and Mr. Sherwood met at a Young Republicans event in 1999 in Washington and began an affair. He said the congressman now incorrectly refers to Ms. Ore as "a casual acquaintance.". It appears however that she and Mr. Sherwood lived together for most of the five years from meeting till their final parting,in Apartment 215 at 110 D St., S.E., Washingotn when he was in town. An arrangement she described as a "close romantic and intimate personal relationship."

In her complaint....

Ms. Ore said that after each alleged beating, Mr. Sherwood would promise never to beat her again, then plead with her not to leave him.

Her lawyer also said that she received unspecified medical treatment after this event but Mr. Regan said their only meeting since Sept. 15 was at one of President Bush's inaugural balls where Mr. Sherwood sought out Ms. Ore.... which makes on ask which lucky chap took her there.

Ore, roughly the same age as Sherwood's daughters was brought up in Peru, did not speak English until she arrived in the US as a teenager, having spoken only French - even now she has some difficulty with spoken English,it is said. Ore says her wealthy family owns Spanish supermarkets and restaurants. She now lives in a huge luxury apartment complex in Rockville that has underground parking for residents and fireside lounges on the first floor. She owns a Porsche and evidently dresses in the classic Barbie label.

She is taking business classes at Johns Hopkins University which judging by the picture is what she is cut out for. She says she wants to open a restaurant.

Apparently Sherwood had managed in the early years if their relationship to obtain an internship for her with his close neighbour Pennsylvania Congressman Bill Shuster, whose congressional office is on the same floor as Sherwood’s in the Longworth Building in Washington.

Anyway last week family values man, Sherwood hit back and responded to Carneys's jibes with his own TV ad. Looking directly at the camera he apologized for his conduct. Last month, his wife mailed a letter to voters that accused Carney of "needlessly cruel" campaign tactics.

This week, desperation has set in and Sherwood accuses Carney of lies - see the video that Carney calls fraudulent here.

Things are getting down and dirty as these two Times Leader stories demonstrate.Fri Oct 27th, Sat Oct 28th

Chris Carney (see pic) is ahead 9 points over Don Sherwood in the race according to an independent poll by Lycoming College released on Saturday. In the poll, Carney leads Sherwood 47%-38% among likely voters and received 61% of Independents’ and 20% of Republicans’ support.

The latest "News" item on Sherwood's website is - March 10, 2006, "Sherwood invites community organizations to apply for forestry grants" - it will be his last message to his electors. Let's hope he doesn't start giving Mrs Sherwood a vigorous "back rub".