Mike Collins

Matthew Chapman attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and lives in San Marcos, Texas. Before joining Raw Story, he wrote for Shareblue and AlterNet, specializing in election and policy coverage.

Andre Stafford, a Republican running for the Georgia House, has been arrested on public indecency and child molestation charges just days before Election Day, Atlanta News First reported.

Cobb County authorities say the charges stem from an October 15 incident in Smyrna. The arrest warrant alleges a driver in a gray 2024 Kia Forte exposed himself to a girl on her way to a bus stop. Police said license-plate cameras traced the car to Stafford, and the girl picked him out of a photo lineup. He’s running for House District 42, held by Democrat Gabriel Sanchez.

House District 42, located in the suburbs west of Atlanta, was never expected to be competitive this cycle; Sanchez won it by a nearly 2:1 margin in 2024.

However, Stafford has appeared in photos with several prominent Georgia Republicans, among them state Sen. Greg Dolezal, Rep. Barry Loudermilk and state Rep. Houston Gaines.

Rep. Mike Collins, who’s challenging Sen. Jon Ossoff, said Stafford had volunteered on campaigns across the state, including his own. “The charges are sickening,” Collins said, adding that if they’re true, Stafford “belongs on a list and behind bars.”

Georgia faces a number of high-profile races this cycle; in addition to Ossoff's Senate race, Democrats are hoping to take the vacant governor's office with former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is running against pro-Trump billionaire businessman Rick Jackson.

Report typos and corrections to [email protected].

For customer support contact [email protected].

Get the stories driving Washington—and the stories others miss—delivered free to your inbox.