Cal Cunningham, Democrat US Senate candidate, confirms sexts

[MelissaB]

Link to tweet

U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham admits to sexual texting with California strategist

North Carolina U.S. Senate candidate Cal Cunningham, a married father of two, sent text messages of a sexual nature to a woman who is not his wife, his campaign confirmed Friday night.

The text messages between Cunningham and Arlene Guzman Todd, a public relations strategist from California, were first reported Thursday night by NationalFile.com.

The report included pictures of the text messages, in which Cunningham and Guzman, who is also married according to the report, talked about kissing each other and more.

“Would make my day to roll over and kiss you about now,” said one text message from Cunningham.

In one text from Guzman, she says: “I have flexibility this month — done with school, training, big RFPs, etc. So the only thing I want on my to do list is you.”

Read more here: https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article246191610.html#storylink=cpy

[Stinky The Clown]

1. Nice going, champ

Wild Willie Gunna Killya

[Hortensis]

88. God! Yes! Needs some major kicking, and if he loses I hope

he gets kicked all the way out of politics. Inexcusable and unforgiveable carelessness with so much at stake. He and Katie Hill can trade texts about how unfair it is.

[rockfordfile]

93. I don't agree with that

The opposite is a right-wing Nazis.

[Hortensis]

94. The opposite is responsible and ethical. Like most

of those we send to congress. This is not a post-truth world, integrity has not gone extinct, and stunning stupidity is not acceptable in people who ask to represent us.

Our candidates don't exactly have to be brilliant to know the future of our nation is at stake and that the Republicans are hunting every candidate to take them out. They have far more than enough to do battling false accusations without providing real ammunition.

[Drunken Irishman]

2. Well he's done. There's a seat we won't win in November.

Great - and he was likely to win that one. Worse, this may hurt Biden in the state too.

These men are goddamn morons.

[JI7]

9. So RApist Trump is ok but this guy having a consensual affair means it's over for him and BIden ?

[Drunken Irishman]

14. Yes. That's typically how it works with Democrats, unfortunately.

The only exception is when it's been a long-known rumor like with Bill Clinton. Everyone knew Trump was a creep so the revelation of the tape was not all that surprising, unfortunately.

[JonLP24]

46. Wikileaks dumped Podesta emails hours following the Access Hollywood Tape

Also the debate following that tape won over the Hillary haters in the Republican party for some reason.

[Volaris]

56. THANK YOU. At this point, given the GOPs outright hypocrisy,

as long as his wife doesnt care, neither do I.
More and more people are coping to being in open relationships. If we're gonna adopt the standard that it's a private matter, and not anyone else's damn business (and no crimes were committed), then we need to live by that standard.
As long as all parties involved are aware and consent, WE are NOT one of the 'involved parties'.

END.

[underpants]

3. F!

[Hoyt]

4. Did he have a shot? Edit -- Appears he did. Thanks for nothing.

[JI7]

6. Yes, he is currently leading

[Hoyt]

8. Darn.

[wishstar]

7. He's been ahead in polls 5 to 10 points for months

[Awsi Dooger]

10. He's one of the most important seats

Cunningham has been leading every poll

Now his opponent will get coronavirus sympathy while Cunningham has to deal with this

[Proud liberal 80]

5. Yawn

Even though he did remind me of another John Edwards..... lol....But after all the shit that “grab them by the pussy” trump and all his scandals.....plus all the other republicans like mark sanford, Duncan hunter, that former senator of Louisiana, this crap doesn’t matter anymore

And good news for Cunningham, this came out today, with everything else happening.... lol

[dweller]

11. finally .. a dem sex plot

✌🏼

edited to add: SQUIRREL !!! -->

[Blue_true]

12. Oh damn.

When will people learn?

[stillcool]

13. No sex? No crime?

This is a scandal? Oh...that's right, he's a Democrat. Human behavior is unacceptable.

[NewDayOranges]

15. He sexted with an adult woman who was also married? But now that this has been exposed

He can't be blackmailed for it... I only worry that there might be sexting conversations with other folks who are underaged. Barring that, if I was in Carolina, I would vote for him anyway!

[Historic NY]

16. If he was a Republican he'd be fine right...

pillow talk

[Rstrstx]

17. Given that Tillis has the Covid, he may still yet have a chance

And nationalfile sounds like a wannabe OAN

[coti]

18. Democratic, god dammit. nt

[MrsCoffee]

61. Exactly.

[Cha]

19. GD.. if he's "so nervous about the next

100 days.." why the hell did he Screw Up so Spectacularly?

Says he's staying in the race.. Good luck for Democracy's sake!

[Awsi Dooger]

22. Seems like everything from this idiot was recent

This Raleigh link has screen grabs of the texts near bottom

On edit: the link was updated and no longer includes specific dates

https://www.newsobserver.com/news/politics-government/article246191610.html

[Cha]

26. TY.. apparently thinking he would never

be exposed.. must have thought it was all hush hush.

Do you know who busted him?

[cwydro]

47. That's what I'm wondering.

Probably a spouse is my guess.

He’ll still get my vote.

[Blue_true]

68. Why do people that do such shit run for public office.

I really don’t care what they do in their private lives as long as it is consensual. But public means fucking public, any strange shit that they do in their private lives become an issue when they are running for public office or are in public office.

[SlogginThroughIt]

28. That is sexting? LOL.... no. Not really.

That seems like flirting.

[crickets]

20. Dammit.

[qazplm135]

21. stupid

but people declaring him done aren't much smarter. Whole month to go, and Thom Tillis has his own issues with ethics.

What he has done is moved a state from a likely win to a much closer contest, but he's not "Done" or "finished."

His fortune is the 100 other things going on that suck the oxygen out of the room.

[BGBD]

23. Who cares?

I don't.

He'll still win.

[Behind the Aegis]

48. +1

[In It to Win It]

78. Exactly. I give not a single fuck

I feel like sex scandals are losing the buzz that they used to have 10, 20, 30 years ago and beyond.

[DavidDvorkin]

24. That may have cost us our chance to control the Senate.

[Generic Brad]

25. That doesn't really qualify as sexting

It’s about as dirty as texting that a pig fell in the mud.

[SlogginThroughIt]

30. Yeah my thoughts exactly

[BannonsLiver]

27. It's between him and his wife

Sounds like it was consensual. If he drops out that would be a mistake. Obviously GOP ratfucking afoot.

[Chasing Dreams]

31. Yep, seems like GOP shenanigans...assisted by a jealous husband who found the texts.

[Yavin4]

29. Trump changed the rules on this.

If you can pay off a porn star, then it's okay to sext.

Fight on Cunningham. No one cares.

[Sunsky]

32. We are still allowing personal relationship issues

To stop us from voting for people? While the Republicans give us the vilest and most kooky candidates and show up in droves to vote for them. His opponent has now tested positive for COVID because he's one of those idiots who didn't wear a mask. I don't live in NC but if I did, I'd care zero about this. This is between him and his family. There's no perfect person, therefore, there will be no perfect candidate.

[Amishman]

57. He isn't running in CA, this is NC and this stuff matters there

Still cautiously optimistic as he was polling so far ahead, but that pickup isn't a sure thing anymore

[Sunsky]

58. Where did I mention CA?

I have family in NC (all Christians), my BFF lives there as well. Their reactions are very similar to mine. This election is too crucial for bs. Tillis is a kook who got caught up in the MAGA cult and now is paying the price.
At least we aren't fielding racist, sexist, xenophobic bigots (Thanks Lindsey).
I stand by my statement. These issues only seem to matter to Democrats. The Christian conservatives in NC or any State for that matter, would not think twice to vote if this was a Republican. This is a personal family matter and should be viewed as such.

[Blue_true]

69. Ethics and morality matter to us. Why should we take our lives down into the sewer

with republicans? If you haven’t state legislatures becoming bluer and us taking more governorships, then you have totally missed the essence of how important us putting up ethical, scandal free candidates is to the voting public at large.

[Sunsky]

72. Yup I missed it nt

[Sewa]

33. Well he picked a good day to come clean

On the bright side.

If nothing physical happened between them, I see this story disappearing quickly. Hopefully the other shoe won’t drop.

[Amishman]

62. He was confronted with the texts and chose not to lie

Probably the best damage control option and certainly the right thing to do from a character perspective.

Sounds like someone had these and waited for an opportune moment to send them to the press.

[Blue_true]

70. He could have avoided all by not fucking doing what he did. nt

[texasfiddler]

34. Nothing about sex in the texts.

It is flirting and he needs to stop and work it out with his wife. He can survive this. Our country needs as many Democratic Senators as possible.

[Boogiemack]

35. What is wrong with these people? Texting?? So stupid!

We had a shot at this seat...no anymore.

[Blue_true]

71. That is the big question for me. If he knew that he had those issues, why in the fuck

did he run for public office? Private affairs become public affairs when a person runs for a public office. I won’t accept the answer that it is between him and his wife, or it is a private issue. People believed in him and he fucking betrayed that trust.

[Wanderlust988]

36. Thank goodness early voting has already begun in NC

Hopefully he's banked a ton of votes already. Any NC DU'ers give us a feel for how it's playing in the state? All I know is he better not drop out!

[Jspur]

38. I live in NC so I can tell you that he still has a

chance right now considering we are not a red state but a purple state. Tillis is not well liked around here despite Cunnigham not looking good morally right now. The race could be a lot of tighter now due to this but Cunningham can still win.

[Jspur]

37. I didn't know sexting is sending cheesy flirtation

lines. I'm one of the older millennials so I'm experienced in sexting but sexting to my generation is when somebody of the opposite sex sends you dirty revealing pictures of themselves. I have never sexted due to me being a private person but women I have gone out with have sexted me by sending dirty pictures of themselves. This is bad because Cunningham was engaging in an adulterous act but it won't be so bad as long as he didn't send her dirty pictures of himself

I live in NC and I'm still going to vote for him. I'm hoping this blows over with all the other distractions that are going on.

[Jspur]

39. Just looked up the woman he was having the

alleged affair with. She is an attractive woman and looks about the same age as his wife. His wife also looks attractive. Very frustrating he couldn't have just stayed loyal to his wife. Here is the website of the woman he had the affair with https://www.hpastrategies.com/our-team

[Blue_true]

76. There comes a time in married people's lives when the routine with

the same person becomes stale. People who make very strong choices for a spouse often avoid that period and have a strong marriage.

I believe the issue comes down to people being real with themselves before they agree to marry a person. If a person is really turned on by a person that looks a certain way, or who behaves in a certain way, then they shouldn’t marry a person who doesn’t have characteristics that turn them on. I know that in my case, I am strongly attracted to women that have a fairly narrow set of physical and personality characteristics, I know that, so I don’t bother with women that don’t meet that set of criteria, failing to do that only means that I will eventually stray from even a strong woman.

[cwydro]

40. He was leading too, dammit.

Shades of John Edwards.

I’ll still be voting for him, but this could hurt him.

Can anyone tell me how the media gets hold of private texts?

[LisaL]

42. I guess there was a reason he reminded some of us of John Edwards.

Not sure how media got a hold of tests, but if anybody assumes their texts will stay private, they are not very bright.

[cwydro]

45. True dat.

Damn, what a shame.

The texts I’ve seen are pretty tame. Enough to really piss off their respective spouses for sure, but nothing like what I was afraid of when I first heard the news. I hope there aren’t more to follow.

Very disappointed.

[UCmeNdc]

41. Well, send him money anyway. We need the seat.

[LisaL]

43. I guess that's about sums it up.

NT

[rockfordfile]

50. I agree

[BlueStater]

44. What a dope.

I really don’t get these people, how they never learn from this stuff, and how they continue to be arrogant that it will never come out.

[Blue_true]

77. You stated my feeling perfectly, without any F bombs. nt

[ibegurpard]

49. Those aren't sexts

But splitting hairs about text flirtations with an equally married person is most unhelpful. And I bet there was an affair to go along with it. When will these morons learn?
Hopefully the Republican hypocrisy with Trump has innoculated us somewhat to this bullshit.

[Withywindle]

51. This is disappointing but it's not game over, far from it

It's not even that explicit. It's just text flirting. He should have known better, but I don't think it's enough to move the polls much, especially considering Tillis's negatives.

Also, mail-in voting in NC started a month ago. Many votes for him, including my parents', have already been sent in. (They don't give a shit about this, for the record.)

[Codeine]

52. That's some low-key sexting.

My phone records - and those of most people I know - from a few years back might make your brain melt if this bothers you.

[Blue_true]

80. You are not running for public office. That is an important red line for me.

As a private citizen, what you do is only of concern to you, your spouse, your relatives and your neighbors. Hell, you could be a giggolo inviting customers to your home, as long as you kept things on the downlow, it would be none of my business. But if you ran for Mayor or City Councilor in my city, then the negative personal choices that you made would be my business.

[DFW]

53. If this were a Republican

They would find a way to excuse it and ignore it. This seat is too important to write off because of this incident.

[Blue_true]

82. We have ethics, republicans don't. That matters to me.

Cunningham should have been well aware of what his activities could mean. Where the hell has he been for the last seven years, living in a hole? I question his judgement now, and nothing anyone says will change that fact.

[DFW]

84. His judgment is certainly in question, however

This does not mean he is the worse of the two candidates, and there ARE only two in this race.

Our choice is lessened, but is no less clear for all that, and North Carolina will not be better off if he loses.

[Blue_true]

86. You make a good point. Hopefully voters go in with the notion that there is

only two choices.

But still, I am gutted by his horrible decision making in the instance being discussed.

[DFW]

87. Agreed, and we should hold our own to a higher standard, but as a comparison....

Just google the name Scott DesJarlais. Their glass house seems to have withstood boulders, and this is a pebble next to that. Anthony Wiener he is not.

[Blue_true]

91. I know about Scott DesJarais.

The supposedly pro-life Tennessee pig that paid for his mistress to get an abortion. People in his district, the supposed pro-life ones didn’t care, they elected him.

[Captain Stern]

54. Oh great, another self-inflicted wound.

Is John Edwards one of his campaign advisors?

I'm still going to vote for him over Tillis because it's what needs to be done.

But I'm not going to be heartbroken if somebody steps up and challenges him in a primary next time.

[smirkymonkey]

55. I can never understand why these people who run for office do such self-destructive

things. They must know that there is no privacy and that their lives are under extreme scrutiny. It's not that what he did that was so horrible, it's just that it was incredibly stupid. How can you not think that would harm your campaign?

Anyway, I wish him luck. He will need it. The lack of sound judgment is his biggest crime.

BTW, I love your sig line! One of my favorite movies!

[Captain Stern]

64. I have a guess at about why that happens

It's just a guess, maybe even a hypothesis.

I think that people that are really good at one or more things in life, might think that they are really good at everything.

They mistake being the "smartest guy/gal in the room" with being the smartest guy/gal in the city, or county, or state, etc. about everything.

I felt really good about Cunningham's chances of taking that seat. Now, I don't. I'm certainly going to vote for him, but I'm not a fan.

Aside from that, I love that you know where the quote in my sig line comes from.

[Jspur]

96. I agree with your hypothesis and will

say it reminds of an interview I heard with Mike Tyson about 10 years ago where he talked to Jalen Rose about his early struggles with women. I remember he said he didn't lose his virginity until he was 21 or it was 23. Anyways Mike said that he had to pay for prostitute simply because he didn't know how to talk to women Jalen's response to Mike was basically what you said which was "Don't feel bad because all of us are only great at 1 or 2 things. The rest we have to learn."

[Blue_true]

83. The thing that has me gnawing my teeth now is his cavalier betrayal of all the people that believed

in him, sent him money and have worked their asses off for his campaign. And then he does this stupid shit. Yes, now I deeply question both his judgement and ethics.

[dsc]

59. I already voted

and while the act itself doesn't make me regret my vote, if I have to revote because he winds up dropping out I will be nothing short of livid.

[honest.abe]

60. Ugh.

That is not going to help.

[sinkingfeeling]

63. Well, he certainly shot himself and the possible Democratic Senate

in the foot.

[OnDoutside]

65. Meh.

[Mr. Ected]

66. More embarrassing than disqualifying

Explain to me again how a text message affair is more damning than holding fascist political beliefs? Thanks in advance.

[Takket]

67. in a sane and rational world......

where people weight pros and cons objectively, this is nothing but a blip on the outer edge of the radar compared to the havoc GOP control control of the government has caused.

but as we learned from Bill Clinton and Monica, this is not a sane, rational, or objective world.

Hopefully the chaos surrounding drumpf leads to this quietly dropping off the front page.

[dawg]

73. There is probably no better than a 50% chance that *any* politician has been ...

100% faithful to his or her spouse.

No one knows for sure what Cunningham's opponent may or may not have done over the course of his three marriages.

But we do know that Trump, the one the evangelical preachers keep pushing as "God's candidate", cheated on all three of his wives.

[Codeine]

81. Any person, really.

Humans are silly creatures who do silly things.

[Buckeyeblue]

74. He just needs to talk about policy like healthcare.

Let Republicans try to make an issue of it. And if they do, he should remind people that they accept this behavior--and worse--from the president. And he is being honest about it and hasn't had to pay anyone off.

[In It to Win It]

75. Don't care

[radius777]

79. Won't move the needle in this environment,

in the middle of a pandemic with so much else going on.

NC isn't a red state (like SC) but a purple state trending blue.

These are very mild texts - the President is a p-grabber who has paid off porn stars.

[dawg]

85. And it shouldn't. It's none of our damned business, and who knows what has happened in the other ...

guy's marriages.

[scardycat]

89. It's the 21st Century...

who gives a fuck..seriously. Between husband and wife..period!

[WyattKansas]

90. Republican have aleady condoned sexual assault and grabbing them by the p----.

They have also already condoned and reinforced prostitution payments by a married male as men will be men.

Hell, the Evangelical base just found out one of their leaders and his wife were swingers.

[budkin]

92. What an absolute IDIOT.

COME ON!

[BGBD]

95. It's time to stop talking about this

We are literally the only ones talking about it right now. It's a non-issue. Nobody is sitting around right now worrying that this dude was sending some raunchy texts to a married woman who was sending them back.

Sex scandals among consenting adults don't have that kind of pop anymore.

[FBaggins]

97. We aren't the only ones talking about it

https://www.cbs17.com/news/your-local-election-hq/nc-senate-candidate-cal-cunningham-drops-out-of-virtual-town-hall-amid-sexting-scandal/