The Cornell Daily Sun (https://cornellsun.com/tag/reed-steberger/)
What was predicted to be a close contest between the incumbent and a challenger from the left is now a one-man race after Rich John ’81’s opponent withdrew.
Reed Steberger ’13 withdrew from the race to represent Collegetown and the Ithaca Commons at the county level on Thursday night, hours after The Sun reported claims of coercion and sexual assault made against the candidate.
Editors Note: Reed Steberger ’13 ended their candidacy for Tompkins County Legislature Thursday night.
In less than one week, Democrats will head to the polls to elect their nominees for the Tompkins County legislature. In District 4, incumbent Rich John ’81, who won a write-in campaign four years ago, is being challenged by Reed Steberger ’13. No candidate in the race has been endorsed by this paper. However, following a disturbing report in The Sun about Steberger’s conduct while at Cornell University, we are calling on Steberger to drop out of contention for this seat.
Three women told The Sun this week that Steberger forced them into non-consensual encounters or coerced them to engage in sex while they were in college in allegations that span nearly three years.
Steberger is now running as a Democrat to represent District Four, which covers all of Collegetown and the Ithaca Commons, and is running against an incumbent Democrat.