Maverick Republican Sen. Bob Packwood of Oregon, who resigned after sexual harassment scandal, dies

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Bob Packwood, R-Ore., holds a book entitled "Intensive Care" by Ross Perot, during hearings dealing with the future of Medicare on Capitol Hill, Aug. 30, 1995. (AP Photo/Dennis Cook, File) 2026-06-07T17:50:23Z Portland, Ore. (AP) — Former Sen. Bob Packwood, a moderate Oregon Republican whose reputation as a champion of abortion and women’s rights was spoiled at the end of his career by allegations of sexual harassment, has died. He was 93. Packwood’s death on Saturday was announced in an obituary sent to media outlets by his family. The release didn’t include additional details. Packwood was a political scrapper who first refused to quit the chamber in which he had served for 27 years, saying he didn’t want to be remembered only for that controversy. Before the MeToo era, Packwood stood out as an example of private behavior undermining a man’s public image. He had been praised by Planned Parenthood and others. The great-grandson of a member of the 1857 Oregon Constitutional Convention, Packwood established himself as a social moderate and fiscal conservative who often voted across party lines. He considered running for president in 1980. Elected to the Senate in 1968, Packwood was best known as the leading Republican advocate of abortion rights and was widely admired by women’s groups throughout the country until the Senate Ethics Committee launched an investigation into the allegations of sexual and official misconduct in 1993. More than two dozen women, former employees and acquaintances, accused him of making unwanted or uninvited sexual advances. The allegations remained the target of an ethics probe that widened to include other alleged acts of official misconduct. He resigned in September 1995, then went to start a lucrative lobbying business in Washington. (