Fla. Republican lawmaker quits in scandal

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TALLAHASSEE, Fla., Sept. 25 (UPI) -- A Republican state legislator in Florida has resigned and given up his campaign for re-election after becoming embroiled in a prostitution scandal.

State Rep. Mike Horner has not been charged, and a spokesman for the state attorney general said there were no plans to charge him, the Tampa Bay Times reported.

"We're not interested in the representative," Bernie Presha said.

But Horner, who has represented a district in central Florida for two terms, handed in his resignation Monday after his name surfaced in the investigation into Mark David Risner, who allegedly ran a prostitution operation, the Orlando Sentinel reported. Horner, 44, had been a rising Republican star and considered almost certain to win a third term.

Horner's name will remain on the ballot, which means his replacement as a candidate, who will have to raise money and get a campaign going with about six weeks to go, could have an additional handicap. The Democratic candidate, Eileen Game, had raised only a few thousand dollars.

"She went from a nobody to a somebody in 20 seconds," said Danny Sexton, chairman of the Osceola County Republican Party.