Jun 3, 2013 4 min read

In the six years that he has represented the 46th Legislative District in Harrisburg, one quality Jesse White has not lacked for is pugnacity.

There have been times, though, where both supporters and opponents have had to wonder whether White relished a fight for causes he believed in or just relished a fight.

Last week, evidence emerged that White has been swinging those fists more than anyone had previously believed and hasn’t exactly been fighting fair. The 34-year-old Cecil Township lawmaker has been found to have been using fake online names to lash out at constituents and fellow legislators who disagree with him, particularly on issues related to Marcellus Shale drilling, and serve up “praise” for the work he is doing. All of these online alter-egos were linked to an Internet Protocol address that matched White’s personal account.

At first, White denied the accusations to the Observer-Reporter and other media outlets but, faced with evidence that couldn’t be talked away, he admitted to “misspeaking” and apologized to two constituents who had been on the receiving end of his online jibes.

For those who believe that Marcellus Shale drillers and related industries have been using heavy-handed tactics with elected officials and residents to try to get their way, White has been a particularly tenacious brawler and, it could be argued, a necessary counterweight. But by adopting online aliases to vent his spleen, belittle his adversaries and pump himself up, White has engaged in the fight in a particularly craven and childish fashion.

White is hardly the first individual or the first politician to inflict grievous damage on himself by loving the Internet not wisely but too well, to borrow a line from Shakespeare. Chris Lee, a New York congressman, resigned in February 2011 after it was found he had posted a shirtless photo of himself on Craigslist in order to line up a few “extracurricular” girlfriends, and, of course, there’s another New York congressman, Anthony Weiner, who was undone later in 2011 after it was discovered he had tweeted a photo of a certain part of his anatomy when it was in a certain state to an admirer with whom he had gotten in the habit of making casual online conversations. It turned out that other women had apparently been recipients of Weiner’s peculiar self-portraiture. Weiner ended up resigning amid the furor, though he is now attempting to rehabilitate his once-promising political career with an unlikely campaign to succeed Michael Bloomberg as New York’s mayor.

Like Weiner, White’s initial denial of responsibility, followed by a confession and an apology, only deepened the self-inflicted wounds. He now has precious little credibility left. That this will damage his relations with his constituents, fellow lawmakers and the media is without question. This is certain to cast a shadow on the remainder of White’s time in Harrisburg. And, in 2014, White will be confronting a reconfigured district that will include less of his natural Washington County base and more of Allegheny County. The chances of White facing a repeat of his 2012 romp to office, where he faced neither primary nor general election opposition, are just about nil. Thanks to the ignominy he has brought upon himself, we suspect anyone with an eye on that seat has been licking their chops in the last few days.

As far as we can tell, White has committed no crime. If he stays in office, White should be left to convince voters that he can still effectively address their concerns and regain their trust.

For a guy who relishes a fight, that could prove to be the most monumental one of all.