A Vermont state senator has resigned following public criticism over his participation in a private Young Republican group chat that contained racist, anti-Semitic, and other offensive remarks, becoming the highest-profile elected official to step down in the widening fallout from the scandal.
Sen. Sam Douglass, a first-term Republican representing a district near the Canadian border, said in an Oct. 17 resignation letter that he will leave office at noon on Monday, citing both pressure from party leaders and threats to his family after the leak of more than 2,900 pages of Telegram messages published by Politico.
