In 1988, Governor Peter Mintrell, of New Jersey, found
himself running for re-election against Cherie Switzler, the prostitute he’d
been caught having sex with in the back of his official limousine 3 months
previously, the scandal of which had led to the snap election. Mintrell had
attempted to play the incident down, claiming at a press conference that he had
been forced to sleep with the prostitute because of ‘a hysterical psychological
condition she suffers from, which sends her into fits which can only be
prevented by sexual intercourse.’ Mintrell, with his wife Sally by his side,
further claimed that his limousine had only been in Switzler’s vicinity because
his driver, Ernie Ballenti, had taken a detour to pick up a sick relative who
lived there, leaving Mintrell alone in the car when he saw Mss. Switzler going
in to convulsions.
“I pulled her into the limousine because I thought she’d have less chance of injuring herself on the leather seats than if I left her on the sidewallk,”
he said, continuing,
“Once in the limousine, I recognised her symptoms from a Discovery documentary I’d seen the week before, and knew that, no matter how uncomfortable I felt with it, my having sexual intercourse with this young lady may well have been the only way to save her life.”
Switzler entered the election race as an Independent, under
the slogan ‘I’ve swallowed a lot of things, but I wouldn’t swallow that
story.’ She pulled out of the race when Mintrell offered her a position on his
staff.
©2012 James Mathurin
