John Cox, the Republican candidate for California Governor, has been openly criticizing Democratic opponents for marital affairs, but when asked about allegations of his own infidelity, well, Cox just says asking about that is just “gutter politics.”
KQED and KPCC took a look at 400 pages of documents from the divorce of Cox and his first wife and found allegations that Cox was having an affair and even bought the other woman a house while still married.
Mr. Cox’s first wife, Nancy Cox, stated in a court filing that she discovered a home that she claimed he purchased to support another woman and her family while the two were still married. Ms. Cox wrote in that filing that the children told her about the other home in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and that they’d met his girlfriend when they went to visit. The girlfriend is not identified in court records, and it’s unclear when their relationship first began.
The documents also allege that Cox wished to remain married to his first wife with the “understanding he would continue to maintain a relationship with the other woman in Massachusetts.”
KQED attempted to ask Cox about the allegations, to which he responded, “I’m not interested in gutter politics. I was separated from my wife. That’s all been resolved.”
The “gutter politics” line is a sharp contrast to what Cox said last month about Democratic candidate Gavin Newsom’s past. “If you conduct yourself in a way that exposes you to extortion or to blackmail… that’s really hurting the people you’re representing,” Cox said.
