Pressure continues to mount on a Delaware County Democratic Rep. Mike Zabel to resign in the wake of the sexual harassment accusations leveled against him with the latest call for him to step down coming from a group of 16 House Republican lawmakers.

In a letter sent on Monday to House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, and House Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery County, the GOP women led by Rep. Kristin Marcell, R-Bucks County, said Zabel’s refusal to resign from his post as the 163rd state legislative district representative “falls well short of the necessary accountability that comes with such heinous and repeated actions.”

Their letter further states: “Knowing Rep. Zabel will not be serving in the halls of the Capitol is the only way women who have had to deal with the grotesque and repeated conduct from this serial harasser will be able to feel safe.”

Zabel, a former prosecutor and teacher who is in his third term in the House representing the 163rd legislative district, could not be reached for comment on Monday.

He sent a letter to the Democratic leaders on Friday saying he was “very mindful and saddened by the sensitive and disturbing allegations against me.” He attributing his behavior to an illness.

While not resigning from his House seat, Zabel said he was stepping down from his position on the Judiciary Committee and would not seek other committee assignments while focusing on his family, treatment and recovery.

Last week, Zabel’s former campaign manager Colleen Kennedy accused the three-term lawmaker of inappropriate touching while at a fundraiser in 2018 revealed in an essay published on medium.com. The day before, Andi Perez, the political director for 32BJ SEIU, publicly identified Zabel as the lawmaker she testified about at a January House hearing who had sexually harassed her in 2019. Both called for Zabel to resign.

Marcell, a freshman lawmaker, said when she first came to Harrisburg she was “warned to not be alone with Representative Zabel.” She went on to say a number of women since have shared their stories and concerns about him with her.

She said she was disappointed by Zabel’s decision to not resign. “I felt that his communication was very focused on himself and had nothing to do with the victims,” she said.

Moreover, Marcell said the Republican female lawmakers’ call for Zabel to resign has nothing to do with his party affiliation in the chamber where Democrats have a two-seat majority. Rather, she said, “we need to be focused on doing what’s best for women in the Capitol Complex.”

Over the weekend, several Democratic lawmakers spoke out on Twitter to stand with Perez and joined her in calling for Zabel resign. Among them, freshman Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes of Allegheny County, freshman Rep. Tarik Khan of Philadelphia, and veteran Rep. Maureen Madden of Monroe County, among others.

Thank you @AndiPerez for bravely sharing your story and being a catalyst for systemic change in Harrisburg.

I believe and stand with survivors. Rep. Zabel must resign.#supportsurvivors #repmayes

— Rep. La’Tasha D. Mayes (@RepMayes) March 6, 2023

House Republicans’ leadership team also have called on Zabel to resign.

McClinton and Bradford issued a statement on Friday, saying, “While Rep. Zabel has declined to resign, we agree that it is appropriate for him to take a step back from his work and focus on the challenges before him.”

An attempt to get a comment from the Democratic leaders regarding the letter from the Republican women was unsuccessful by the time this story posted.

In the letter, the Republican woman said, “No one — man or woman, Democrat or Republican — should stand for this kind of behavior in 2023. … It is important for us to lead this charge for accountability and speak up with one voice to say that they only acceptable remedy is Rep. Zabel’s immediate resignation from the Pennsylvania House of Representatives.”

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)