U.S. Rep Admits Affairs

    His wife's filed for divorce. He's admitted to paying off a mistress to avoid a lawsuit. And he's fighting to win reelection after he's confessed to "multiple affairs." Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Mahoney is just one of a list of politicians -- including former presidential candidate John Edwards -- whose philandering has made front page news this year.

According to the Palm Beach Post, Mahoney's wife, Terry, filed for divorce on Monday afternoon -- less than a week after it was discovered that her husband had an affair with a staffer whom he put on the payroll and then fired. He later paid her $121,903 to keep her from filing a lawsuit against him. Court paperwork shows Terry Mahoney wants to know how her husband spent money he took from their joint account in the last few years.

"Based on the way our country is being run these days, one could certainly conclude that all our elected officials do is have illicit sex!  Florida Rep. Tim Mahoney is another candidate to sit for a portrait in the Cheaters’ Gallery of Tarnished Lawmakers," said Dr. Gilda Carle, author of "How to Win when your Mate Cheats." 

"Taxpayers will want to know whether tax dollars were used to pay this guy’s alleged mistress $121,000 to avoid a harassment suit," she said. But Carle, a relationship expert and psychotherapist, said her concern has been for Mahoney's wife, who was "squirming from the humiliation and disrespect her husband has shown her." 

Last week, Terry Mahoney appeared with her husband at a news conference in which he said he caused "pain" for his wife. Days later, he admitted having "multiple affairs" including one with a government official in a neighboring county, whom he met in 2007. "Let me just be explicit that I am admitting to it...to having affairs," he has told reporters. 

Statistics show that 65 percent of all married couples that deal with infidelity stay together if they get counseling, sometimes making the marriage stronger than before then before. After her husband confessed to an affair with a filmmaker documenting his presidential bid, Edwards' wife, Elizabeth, stood by her man, explaining that her cancer diagnosis made her more aware of what she considered important -- supporting her children -- which is why she choose to stay married. Apparently that wasn't to be in the case of Mahoney and his wife.

Despite calls for him to drop out of the race, Mahoney, 52,  is continuing his reelection bid against Republican Tom Rooney. Mahoney won his seat two years ago after former Rep. Mark Foley resigned following allegations that had sent sexually explicit e-mail to male House pages. 

 A recent study by Bruce Elmslie, professor of economics at the University of New Hampshire, showed that men who cheat are simply taking advantage of the opportunity without regard to the expense -- while women who cheat are doing so because their new partner is usually a better economic and genetic fit. "Why is it that high-profile males get caught up in these situations? High-profile males have more opportunity," Elmslie said. "They're much more willing to cheat," he added. 

Tina Tessina, Ph.D., author of "Money, Sex and Kids: Stop Fighting about the Three Things that Can Ruin your Marriage," agreed. "Many powerful, public people are narcissistic, and narcissists can mentally re-write the facts to suit their own purposes, and they don't often turn down opportunities for illicit sex," she said.

The bottom line, Carle said, is that "...cheaters keep cheating, and unless something is done to break what I call the cheataholic habit, Mahoney is only likely to exchange this mistress with a new one."


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