May 10, 2023- The Texas House unanimously voted to expel Bryan Slaton on Tuesday, one day after the Royse City Republican submitted his resignation after an internal investigation determined that he had sex with a 19-year-old aide after getting her drunk.
After hearing a tearful and angry recounting of Slaton’s “graphic” and “offensive” behavior, the house voted 147-0 for the expulsion of Bryon Slaton. This make him the first member of the Texas legislature since 1927 to be expelled from office.
A vote with two-thirds of the house was needed to support the expulsion of Slaton.
Slaton’s nameplate was immediately removed from his desk and from the vote tally board at the front of the House chamber.
The expulsion of Slaton followed a month long investigation conducted by the House General Investigation Committee after receiving complaints of Slaton’s behavior from three Capitol employees and four representatives. A 16-page report detailing action actions taken by Slaton, 45, was released Saturday.
Ahead of the vote, members of the committee told the House that Slaton had not disputed the allegations and still had not expressed remorse or regret. They also said Slaton likely committed multiple crimes, including providing alcohol to a minor.
Although Slaton had resigned from his position he was still entitled to receive his house salary, he would also have been allowed to continue on assigned committees and count toward establishing a working quorum of the house.
Slaton, a prominent anti-LGBTQ lawmaker who has described drag performers as “perverted adults,” allegedly invited the woman to his Austin apartment, giving her a large cup of rum and coke, then refilled it twice. The committee stated she was rendered unable to “effectively consent to intercourse and could not indicate whether it was welcome or unwelcome.”
The bipartisan committee also stated Slaton tried to obstruct their investigation, including by what they described as intimidation tactics against the aide and other witnesses. Five members of Slaton’s staff also refused to be interviewed by the committee.
Slaton, a married father who portrayed himself as a “family values” conservative, submitted his written resignation to Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday. In the letter, Slaton said he planned to spend more time with his family but did not address the inappropriate conduct.
Calls for Slaton’s resignation had grown since the reports release Saturday. Over the weekend , two of the three republican parties for the counties he represents asked him to step down from his position, and more than half of the 62-member State Republican Executive Committee had done the same by Sunday night.
Other Slaton allies also abandoned him, including Texas Rights to Life the Anti-Abortion group that revoked it’s endorsement of the former representative, stating that it was a “Christian organization” that held its staff, board members, scholarship recipients and political endorsees to high moral standards.
