CongressionalBadBoys.com | home | Sherwood Don Sherwood Republican, Pennsylvania (1999-2006) The Honorable Don Sherwood had a little problem.  The 65-year-old, father of three, touted himself as a family-values conservative.  But at the same time, was carrying on a five-year affair with a 30-year-old mistress.  In 2005, Sherwood was sued by his then ex-mistress, Cynthia Ore, because she alleged that he physically abused her.  Sherwood agreed to pay her about $500,000 in a settlement. The November 2005 settlement allegedly required Ore to keep her mouth shut about the affair.  Sherwood was paying her back in installments, and she had received less than half the settlement by election time, November 2006. Sherwood, of course, denied any wrongdoing.  "I can neither confirm nor deny because this was a private settlement.  If I'd like to talk to you about it, I can't," he told a reporter.  According to the police report, Ore called 911 on her cell phone from the bathroom of Sherwood's Capitol Hill apartment in 2004 and reported that Sherwood had choked her while give her a back rub.  Sherwood admitted having the affair, but vehemently denied ever hurting her, and criminal charges were never filed.  Update:  Sherwood was defeated in November by Chris Carney, a professor and former commander in the Naval Reserve, who served as a military analyst at the Pentagon.  Check out other defeats of badboys in Congressional Roadkill. Sources:  AP, "Sex Scandal Costs GOP's Sherwood," Nov. 8, 2006;  Fox News.com, "Ex-Mistress Traded Cash for Silence Ahead of Sherwood Re-election," Nov. 5, 2006.