The three top vote-getters remained the same in the final tally: Romney was first with 97,295 votes, Ron Paul second with 56,485 votes, and Jon Huntsman at 41,626 votes.
The secretary of state’s office said turnout figures would be available today.
— Sarah Schweitzer
Ethics committee seeks time on harassment case
WASHINGTON - The House ethics committee said yesterday it needs more time to consider sexual harassment allegations against Representative Alcee Hastings, a Florida Democrat, but released a report in which the alleged victim detailed a pattern of sexually suggestive remarks and unwanted hugs.
The staff member who brought the allegations, Winsome Packer, works for the Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, a government agency based in Austria and formerly headed by Hastings.
Packer also has filed a civil lawsuit against the commission, its staff director, and Hastings. Also known as the Helsinki Commission, the agency takes up issues such as human rights and the settlement of disputes.
Hastings, a 10-term lawmaker, denied the allegations in a statement yesterday - as he has done previously. “I unequivocally deny the allegations made by Ms. Packer,’’ he said, adding the allegations “are completely false. I never had a romantic or sexual interest in her, nor did I ever express or otherwise suggest that I had any such interest.’’
Hastings also sharply criticized the report by the Office of Congressional Ethics - which does preliminary work for the ethics committee. He said, “The OCE also completely failed to assess Ms. Packer’s motivations. Ms. Packer has a self-published book entitled ‘A Personal Agenda,’ which she has stated ‘seeks to provoke its readers by examining . . . sexual harassment in Congress and supposedly was ‘inspired by her own experiences.’ ’’ Hastings accused the congressional ethics office of failing to explore this angle.
