Florida Senate's top Democrat resigns after admitting affair

The Florida state Senate’s top Democrat resigned Friday after admitting to an extramarital affair with a lobbyist.

State Sen. Jeff Clemens emailed his decision to Florida’s Senate president after Politico Florida reported the Lake Worth Democrat’s affair with a Broward County lobbyist.

Earlier Friday, Clemens’ office issued a written apology, in which the Democrat said he had “made mistakes,” the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

“The people of Florida deserve better,” wrote Clemens, who also apologized to his wife.

Clemens, 47, was elected to the Florida Senate in 2012 after previously serving in the House. He was expected to become minority leader after the 2018 elections.

He was the second Florida state senator to resign this year. Previously, Republican Sen. Frank Artiles resigned after a loud, profanity filled incident at a private club, the Tallahassee Democrat reported.

Politico Florida reported that the affair became known soon after lobbyist Devon West disclosed the affair to Clemens’ wife after West came into possession of Clemens’ laptop, which contained a list of his personal contacts.

The disclosure of the affair came less than two weeks after a Florida political blogger wrote an op-ed in the Sun-Sentinel, predicting that sexual transgressors in Florida's male-dominated state politics would be exposed.