Democratic Party chair resigns under pressure from Wolf

(Harrisburg) — Pennsylvania’s Democratic Party chairman says he’s acceding to Gov. Tom Wolf’s request that he resign in the wake of his comments to a columnist about the party’s responses to sexual misconduct allegations against politicians.

In a statement Friday, Marcel Groen said he didn’t agree with Wolf’s assessment, but didn’t want to be a distraction to the party. At one point in The Philadelphia Inquirer’s column, Groen says Wolf is already unhappy with him.

Groen says some comments were taken out of context and some were inaccurate, but he also says he should have spoken more artfully and clearly.

The 72-year-old Groen is a Montgomery County lawyer who became party chairman in 2015.

The columnist, Will Bunch, says all of Groen’s comments were reported accurately and the context stands for itself.