Rhode Island Rep. faces call to resign, questions about past - Boston Herald

PROVIDENCE, R.I. Rhode Island state Rep. Daniel Gordon didnt grow up wanting to be a politician. He wanted to be a Marine.

That life ended, he said, eight miles south of Baghdad in 1991 when his right leg caught some flying shrapnel.

His military career shattered, reeling from post-traumatic stress, Gordon said he turned to alcohol. Trouble followed.

In the two decades that followed, Gordon racked up a long list of offenses. He served four months after being convicted of assault with a pool cue and handgun in 1996. Charges of attempted murder stemming from a fight with a girlfriend were dismissed in 2004.

His Massachusetts driving record lists dozens of infractions dating back to the 1980s.

Now the 42-year-old Portsmouth Republican is facing calls for his resignation after his arrest last week on charges stemming from a 2008 police chase and the criminal record that came to light afterward. And his military file, meanwhile, shows no deployments to the Middle East.

Gordon insists hes reformed. He says he no longer drinks, and that his legislative service gives him back some of the self-respect and purpose he lost when he left the Marines.

"Ive made some terrible mistakes," he said. "Thats in the past. I saw the light, so to speak, and turned my life around."

But questions about Gordons past persist. In addition to showing no deployments to the Middle East, a military service file for Gordon obtained by The Associated Press shows no awards given to personnel who served in the war.

Gordon said the file is incomplete, and that photos that could prove his story were destroyed in a 2005 house fire when he lived in Fall River, Mass. He said he didnt know how to contact some of the other Marines who served with him.

Gordon was elected to the Rhode Island House of Representatives after winning by just 47 votes. He was a political unknown who had never held public office.

"I was surprised when he won," said his aunt, Regina Mack, of Warminster, Pa. "Hes just an honest guy, and I didnt think people like that got elected."

Gordon said he only ran for office because no other conservative Republicans expressed interest in the seat. He said hed wanted to serve the public since he quit drinking two years before.

"I felt again the tug of service," he said.

Gordon quickly gained notice for his impassioned floor speeches and at times controversial views. He made headlines in March after he criticized Tiverton High School for forming a Gay-Straight Alliance. He soon earned the wrath of his fellow GOP lawmakers by making disparaging comments about them online.

The House Republican Caucus voted to expel Gordon earlier this month. Gordon said he blames his ouster on a "secret cabal" and said he never said anything inappropriate about any of his colleagues.

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