Former staffers for Janet Keo Conklin, the Democratic candidate running for Orange County assessor, have accused her of forcing employees to touch her breasts and of funneling campaign money toward personal expenses, allegations that prompted the Democratic Party of Orange County to yank its endorsement, the New York Post reported.
Conklin, a La Palma council member and real estate agent, denied all wrongdoing. Her political consultant called the accusations a coordinated smear by disgruntled ex-employees. But the local party wasn't buying it, and the fallout has left a once-promising campaign in serious trouble.
The allegations surfaced publicly on Friday, when LAist reported that two staffers said Conklin told them "she has no feeling in her nipples" and then placed their hands on her chest, directing them to "give it a squeeze." The incident's exact date and location have not been disclosed.
Beyond the harassment claims, former staffers alleged that Conklin misused campaign funds on personal expenses. As of mid-April, her campaign had spent almost all of the $61,000 it had raised since last year.
Former staffers also alleged that campaign cash was paid out to Conklin's daughter, Natalie Khay, and to a friend, Shauna Harris, after those staffers had left the operation. The exact amounts paid to Khay and Harris have not been reported. What specific personal expenses the money covered, beyond restaurant spending, remains unclear.
Michael Trujillo, Conklin's political consultant, told the Post that the spending controversy boiled down to a single unremarkable dinner. His frustration was plain:
"This entire episode that the LAist story missed, all of these receipts, is primarily about a dinner at Sizzler. F, ing Sizzler! I swear to god, what is wrong with the media? It's about Sizzler. This is crazy."
Whether a Sizzler receipt accounts for the bulk of the disputed spending, or just a fraction of it, remains an open question. Trujillo did not explain where the rest of the $61,000 went.
Trujillo slammed the allegations as false and told the Post that ex-staffers had coordinated a smear campaign after being let go for poor performance. He singled out former campaign treasurer Cine Ivery, calling her record into question:
"Shortly after being brought on by Janet, I recommended she fire this treasurer who has a troubling history getting it wrong, not knowing the rules and, quite honestly, just being plain dumb."
Ivery's name carries baggage. The California Fair Political Practices Commission named her in a 2024 enforcement decision tied to former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva's 2018 campaign, which the FPPC found had laundered contributions. Ivery did not respond to a request for comment from the Post.
Trujillo's defense strategy, discredit the accuser's treasurer, dismiss the spending questions as trivial, is a familiar playbook. But it doesn't address the physical harassment claims, and it didn't stop the party from acting. The pattern of sexual misconduct accusations dogging Democratic candidates has become harder for party leaders to wave away.
Florice Hoffman, an attorney who chairs the Democratic Party of Orange County, told LAist she first learned of the issues in February and moved quickly to rescind the endorsement. Her advice to Conklin was blunt:
"Our advice is you need to get a lawyer, a criminal lawyer."
That's not the kind of guidance a party chair gives over a Sizzler receipt. Hoffman's choice of words, "criminal lawyer", suggests the local party views at least some of the allegations as potentially crossing a legal line, not just an ethical one.
Conklin, for her part, shrugged off the endorsement loss. "Endorsements come and go," she told LAist. "If it doesn't come with money, so what?" The dismissal is striking. Most candidates treat a home-party endorsement as a baseline credential, especially in a race against an incumbent from the opposing party.
That incumbent is Claude Parrish, the Republican who currently oversees the county office managing property tax assessments. Conklin's campaign was supposed to be the Democratic bid to flip the seat. Instead, it may now serve as a cautionary tale about vetting.
Rather than contain the damage, Trujillo escalated. He directed his anger at Hoffman, calling her public comments inappropriate and threatening political retaliation. The growing list of Democratic misconduct scandals and the party infighting they produce has become a recurring subplot in American politics.
"She should have never been on the record. What she said was outrageous and unbecoming of any party chair of the 58 counties in California. And she will be reprimanded."
Trujillo then looked ahead to 2028, saying he intended to run a slate of Orange County delegates to oust the party's executive director. "I now know what my assignment is in 2028, it's to run a slate of Orange County delegates to fire the executive director of the Democratic Party," he said.
So the consultant's response to his client being accused of harassment and financial mismanagement is not contrition, not a thorough accounting, but a promise to purge the party officials who held her accountable. That tells you something about the incentive structure inside certain Democratic campaigns: loyalty to the candidate first, accountability never.
Several questions hang over this story. How many former staffers made the campaign-spending allegations? What specific expenditures beyond restaurant meals were flagged as personal? When and where did the alleged breast-touching incident take place? Did Conklin address the payments to her daughter and her friend? None of these have been answered publicly.
The broader pattern is familiar. A candidate faces serious accusations. The consultant attacks the accusers' motives. The party quietly distances itself. And the voters who were supposed to be served by the campaign are left holding the bag. Democrats have faced similar credibility crises in other races where personal scandal collided with political ambition.
Orange County Democrats now head into the assessor's race with a candidate who has burned through nearly all her campaign funds, lost her own party's endorsement, and faces accusations that her party chair says warrant a criminal attorney. Meanwhile, the internal turmoil roiling California Democratic politics shows no sign of slowing down.
The party that lectures the country about believing women and holding the powerful accountable just pulled its endorsement from a candidate accused of groping her own staff, and the candidate's top adviser responded by threatening to fire the people who acted on the complaint.
Accountability, it turns out, is only a value when it applies to someone else.
