Boom. There it is. The campaign staffer for Washington gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna who came under fire for an anti-Asian tweet she posted on her Twitter account ("shut up and speak english #asians"), has resigned: McKenna staffer who sent anti-Asian tweet resigns.Kathlyn Ehl, who was hired by the campaign as a policy assistant last month, was reportedly suspended without pay when news of the tweet surfaced. She apologized, but it still didn't sit right with community members -- particuarly the McKenna campaign's Asian American Coalition.
According to a campaign spokesman, it was decided that Ehl's "ongoing involvement on the campaign would be a constant reminder of her lapse in judgment." So she effectively got the boot. Here's the McKenna campaign's full statement on Ehl's resignation:
On Monday, the Rob McKenna for Governor campaign learned of two offensive tweets sent by a staff person, Kathlyn Ehl. Ms. Ehl started work as a campaign volunteer in April and, following her graduation from the University of Washington, became a paid policy assistant last month. Pending an investigation into these actions, which took place before she began volunteering on the campaign, Ms. Ehl was suspended without pay. Today, after facilitating an exchange between Ms. Ehl and the leaders of the campaign's Asian American Coalition, her resignation was accepted.It's really the only way this could have gone down. More here: McKenna staffer did the right thing by resigning over offensive tweets.
"I felt it was important to provide an opportunity for our Asian American Coalition leaders, who have spent countless hours over the last year working to advance our campaign in their community, to let Kathlyn know how hurtful her comments were to them," said Randy Pepple, McKenna's campaign manager. "It was important for her to thoroughly understand their feelings and to apologize to them for her comments.
"After consulting with the leaders of our Asian American Coalition, members of our Seattle Steering Committee, and several others I reached out to, I accepted Kathlyn Ehl's resignation from our campaign this morning," Pepple added.
"As the father of two young women, it pains me to accept the resignation of a young woman for a mistake which occurred before she had even begun her career. However, as we have said, and Kathlyn readily acknowledges, her tweets were offensive and insensitive. Kathlyn suggested, and I agreed after consultation with some of our campaign's grassroots leaders, that her ongoing involvement on the campaign would be a constant reminder of her lapse in judgment.
"Life teaches us difficult lessons, and sometimes at a very young age. My hope is that she will find some benefit from having learned this lesson now, as it will undoubtedly be a long-lasting one," Pepple concluded.
Pepple's decision came after a meeting had been arranged to encourage direct dialogue between Ms. Ehl and McKenna's Asian American Coalition and Seattle Steering Committee leaders.
"My fellow volunteers appreciated hearing from Ms. Ehl and the campaign's willingness to seek input from us," said W. Walter Liang, McKenna's Seattle-North King County Steering Committee chairman and Asian American Coalition co-chair. "My colleagues and I are confident Ms. Ehl's apology is sincere, but we also feel it is important to show the community that even an immature error cannot be overlooked when it has such a profound impact."