Democrat in state party chairmanship race says he’s been targeted by false rumors that he molested boys

Los Angeles County Democratic Party Chairman Eric Bauman, a front-runner in the race to lead the state party, sent an email Sunday to California Democrats saying he’s been targeted by false rumors of “engaging in inappropriate behavior with 14- and 16-year-old boys.”

Bauman said he decided to send the email after members of his campaign team, while calling California Democratic Party delegates to ask for their support, reported that at least four people said they had heard the rumor.

“I am outraged about the latest tactic in the politics of personal destruction that have infected this race for CDP Chair,” Bauman, who also serves as a vice chair in the state party, wrote in the email. The subject line read, “I can no longer stay silent.”

“I’m a pretty tough guy and I can take the attacks, lies, distortions, and mud that has been slung at me pretty well,” Bauman’s email said. “But to accuse me of child abuse, especially of this nature, is beyond the pale and 100% unacceptable.”

When reached by telephone Sunday, Bauman said he was not accusing any of his opponents of orchestrating or spreading the reports. He said he did not know the origin of the rumors.

Bauman said he was distraught after hearing the reports. In the email to state Democrats, he wrote, “I spent much of my evening sobbing, literally sobbing — a 58-year-old man, inconsolable. Finally, my husband Michael convinced me to go with him for a long walk with the dog so we could talk and I’d be distracted.”

Bauman told The Times he understands that by addressing the rumor and “putting it out there, I sort of in a way spread the thing.”

“I was thinking that the only way to shut it down was to shut it down. So that was the point of the email,” he said.

His top rival, Kimberly Ellis, quickly denounced the situation.

“These rumors are despicable and there’s no place in our politics for such outrageous behavior and I denounce any such type of cruel maligning of someone’s character,” Ellis said in her own email to state Democrats, sent two hours after Bauman’s message.

“While Eric and I have substantive differences, we also have had the opportunity to spend a significant amount of time together on the campaign trail,” she wrote. “Though there’s certainly a lot of passion on both sides, I’m proud of the mutual respect and courtesy we’ve shown each other in our interactions.”

Ellis is the former director of Emerge California, a Bay Area organization that encourages and trains women to run for political office.

Bauman had been considered the clear front-runner for the state party chairmanship, but supporters of Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ bid for president and other progressive Democrats have rallied behind Ellis in recent months, making it a hotly contested race.

At a fundraiser in Oakland on Sunday, Ellis told supporters she believes she has enough support from delegates to win.

Bauman disputed that and contended he had enough support from delegates to be elected chairman. He said at worst, it’s a “50-50” race.

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