Stan Pulliam.Photo: Mayor Stan for Oregon/ Facebook
In a statement to media outletsincludingThe Oregonian, Sandy, Oregon, Mayor Stan Pulliam, a Republican, said that he and wife MacKensey “explored mutual relationships” when they were members of the Portland-based group in 2016, but the two have since decided to focus only on their own partnership.
“Ever since, day in and day out, we’ve worked as a team to strengthen our family and to create a better community and state for our girls and the hundreds of thousands of kids just like them, so they can safely grow up, live, work and stay right here in Oregon,” Pulliam, 40, said in his statement. (He did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.)
Pulliam has campaigned on a platform of individual liberties and small-town values,saying on his websitethat he wants to “put an end” to the “culture of criminality that our state has allowed to fester in Oregon’s big cities.”
He has also campaigned as a pro-Trump candidate, backing the former president’s false claims that the 2020 presidential election was fraudulent.
“Hi Everyone!” the message read. “MacKensey and I are excited to be added to your little community. Some of you we have already had the pleasure to meet and we look forward to getting to know the rest of you!”
In an interview with the outlet, Pulliam said that he had been a member of the group but did not elaborate on when his membership (or any relationships made in the group) began or ended. He did, however, push back on circulating claims that he is bisexual.
“I’m a heterosexual male,” Pulliam toldWillamette Week. “And I’ve only personally engaged in heterosexual activity.”
Photos that surfaced recently also show that Pulliam attended the Portland Erotic Ball in 2011. He toldWillamette Weekhis attendance at the event preceded his and his wife’s experimentation with other couples.
He added that the decisions were theirs alone and that the couple was “certainly not ashamed.”
“The decisions that we made were for MacKensey and I to make in the privacy of our own homes,” he toldWillamette Week. “We’re certainly not asking anybody to participate or practice or do any of the things that we have decided to do in the past. But we’re also certainly not ashamed of decisions that we’ve made in the past either, as they’ve made us stronger.”
In a separate commentto the localSandy Post, Pulliam said: “I think whenever you run for a position like governor, you go into it with eyes wide open. I continue to believe this is a private matter.”
He denied chatter that he was keeping some hypocritical secret. “I’ve also never stood against the LGBTQ+ community or looked to align myself with organizations that are anti-LGBTQ+,” he said.
The Oregonianreports that Pulliam plans to continue his bid and that recent pollsshow him ranked No. 2 among GOP candidates.
source: people.com
