Democratic Congressional candidates moved quickly this week to distance themselves from state Attorney General Marc Dann (D), who recently announced that several people in his office have resigned or were dismissed because of sexual harassment concerns brought by female staffers against some of his top aides.

Democrats swept the Buckeye State in 2006 after a scandal embroiled many of the Republican statewide officeholders. As a result, Democrats rode the anti-corruption wave to make huge gains in the Legislature and won almost all statewide offices in 2006 — including Dann’s top legal post.

But in a news conference earlier this month, Dann also admitted that he was having an extramarital affair with a staffer. Dann has no intention of resigning, even though top state officials are reportedly looking at the idea of launching impeachment proceedings against him.

Democratic Congressional candidates have joined almost every one of their elected state party members in the state in calling for Dann’s resignation.

Franklin County Commissioner Mary Jo Kilroy (D), who is running for a second time in what is now an open 15th district race, was the first of the crop, calling for Dann’s resignation Sunday. Democratic state Rep. Steve Driehaus, running in the 1st district, physician Victoria Wulsin, running in the 2nd district, and state Sen. John Boccieri, running in the 16th district open-seat race, followed suit.

— Shira Toeplitz