House Democrats are investigating Brian Poindexter, a Democrat elected last week to represent a congressional district in northeastern Ohio, after he faced an accusation of sexual harassment.
In a statement on Friday, Julie Merz, the executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said the organization had “hired an independent, third-party firm to investigate any instance of inappropriate behavior, conduct interviews and gather the facts.”
Ms. Merz said the committee, which is the House Democratic campaign arm, would have more to say after the investigation was completed.
The investigation follows an allegation that surfaced late in the race from a woman Mr. Poindexter’s campaign described as a “volunteer.” An advocacy organization for victims of sexual misconduct described the woman as a “low-level campaign staffer.” Neither the organization nor the D.C.C.C. has specified the nature of the allegation, and the woman has not been identified.
Mr. Poindexter defeated Representative Max Miller, a Republican whose ex-wife accused him of physically abusing her and their young daughter. Mr. Miller denied the accusations, which were a focal point in the campaign.
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Asked about the allegation against Mr. Poindexter, his campaign said he “gave what he thought was an innocuous compliment to a volunteer.”
“He heard later that it made her feel uncomfortable and he felt awful,” the campaign said in a statement. “When Brian learned about this, we immediately began to work to get to the bottom of it with an outside H.R. firm. Neither Brian nor the campaign ever wants anyone to feel uncomfortable.”
The allegation against Mr. Poindexter was not made public before Election Day on Nov. 3. Democratic groups aligned with Mr. Poindexter said the woman had requested privacy.
Reckoning Action, the advocacy organization, said it is “providing support to” the woman who made the accusation against Mr. Poindexter, but declined to provide details about the allegation. The woman got in touch with Cheyenne Hunt, the group’s executive director, on Nov. 1, the group said.
Two political organizations that had endorsed Mr. Poindexter said in a statement on Friday that they had learned of the allegation toward the end of the campaign and are withdrawing their support while the investigation is conducted.
“We became aware of a report of alleged sexual harassment in the final days of the campaign. We informed the D.C.C.C. and connected the individual with legal advocacy and support services so she could determine how she wanted to proceed,” the two groups, the Blue Dog PAC, which supports moderates, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC, said in a joint statement.
The allegation prompted the groups to rescind their endorsements of Mr. Poindexter, the statement said, “pending the investigation being completed.” The groups had previously removed Mr. Poindexter’s name from their websites without providing a public explanation. The Blue Dog PAC had Mr. Poindexter’s name listed on its website as recently as Oct. 28, and the Congressional Progressive Caucus PAC included him as recently as Nov. 1, according to internet archives.
“The individual requested that we did not disclose any details about this publicly because she did not want her identity becoming public and she wanted an opportunity to determine how she wanted to proceed while protecting herself,” the groups’ statement said. “We respected her desires, and also felt we needed to immediately pull our endorsements pending the investigation being completed.”
When asked about the matter on Friday, the House Democratic campaign arm said it had learned of the allegation in the “last several days leading up to the election,” and pointed to the comment from the PACs about the woman’s request.
Earlier this week, Mr. Poindexter told Politico that there was “nothing to read into” his removal from the websites of the two PACs.
“Just, I’m waiting to learn the political landscape,” he said.
