A Valentine’s Day weekend sleepover of 12- and 13-year-old girls in the Oklahoma City area took a turn for the worse when Democratic House candidate Abby Broyles got drunk and verbally berated several of them, parents say.
Broyles is the likely Democratic nominee in reconfigured Oklahoma’s 5th Congressional District, covering part of Oklahoma City, the state’s capital and largest population center. Broyles, an attorney and former local television news anchor, faces an uphill battle against first-term GOP Rep. Stephanie Bice as the new lines during the redistricting process shed heavily Democratic parts of Oklahoma City.
Broyles, 32, was hardly on her best behavior while at the girls’ party, held at the home of a parent. Broyles got drunk and verbally berated several children, and she is now apologizing for the episode, blaming it on alcohol consumption in combination with medication she had “never taken before.”
The slumber party was held at the home of a Deer Creek Public Schools parent on Feb. 11, where eight girls between the ages of 12 and 13 were present. A mother whose daughter attended the event at the home of another girl, Sarah Matthews, is a college friend of Broyles. A Twitter thread this week by Matthews first raised questions about Broyles’s behavior at the party.
“For someone who pontificates to be undyingly pro woman, I am disgusted by your behavior and find it appalling you couldn’t understand why their parents are angry,” Matthews tweeted of Broyles on Wednesday. “Your vile, cruel, and bigoted behavior should not be excused or ‘swept under the rug.'”
OKLAHOMA VOTERS COULD GET SAY ON ADDING VOTER ID TO STATE CONSTITUTION
@abbybroyles Since it’s been five days and you have neglected to reach out to any of the young ladies (12 & 13 yr olds, including my daughter) you verbally and emotionally abused last weekend, I thought I would give you a chance to try to apologize (at a minimum) here. 1/4
— Sarah Matthews (@ma66915987) February 16, 2022
Multiple accounts corroborated that Broyles became intoxicated and verbally disparaged some of the girls in attendance, saying she called one girl an “acne f*****,” another girl a “Hispanic f*****,” and a third girl a “judgy f*****,” according to Matthews, who initially spoke to a local nonprofit outlet NonDoc regarding the sleepover incident.
The Washington Examiner made multiple attempts to contact Broyles but did not receive a response. Matthews and the Oklahoma Democratic Party did not respond to a request for comment.
But Broyles on Friday admitted to the incident in an interview with a local news channel she worked at, though she wouldn’t confirm specific details mentioned by Matthews.
“I don’t remember anything until I woke up, or came to, and I was throwing up in a hamper,” Broyles told NBC affiliate KFOR.
The candidate stayed overnight into the next morning, according to one witness account from the slumber party. “I could tell she was embarrassed to say anything to us,” one attendee said, adding that “there wasn’t any discussion (the next morning).”
Broyles at first denied the allegations altogether and said she was not at the home that evening and was out of town. But Broyles changed her story in the KFOR interview. She apologized to the families but underscored she was “not in her right mind” due to a combination of substances.
“I would never, ever, say something hurtful like those things,” Broyles added.
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The episode is unlikely to help Broyles’s House campaign. The 2022 political landscape looks strong for Republicans, with President Joe Biden’s administration floundering amid high inflation and a range of other problems. House Republicans need to net five seats in November to win back the majority they lost in 2018.
In 2020, Broyles unsuccessfully challenged Sen. Jim Inhofe, a Republican who has held the seat since 1994. Inhofe easily beat Broyles 63% to 33%.
