Oregon GOP gubernatorial candidate is still running after admitting he and his wife were swingers

A Republican candidate in the packed Republican Primary for Oregon Governor has been forced to admit he was a swinger after his posts on a private Facebook group were leaked ahead of the race.

Stan Pulliam, who is also the mayor of his hometown of Sandy, told his local paper that he and his wife of 12 years MacKensey ‘ultimately decided’ that the lifestyle ‘wasn’t for us,’ but that he is ‘not ashamed’ of the decisions they ‘made in the privacy of [their] own home.’ 

The 40-year-old told the Williamette Week that he and MacKensey, ‘explored relationships, mutual relationships with other couples, for a brief period of time.’ 

‘Several years ago, MacKensey and I, as a couple explored relationships with other couples for a brief period of time before we ultimately decided to focus solely on each other, our marriage and our family,’ he expounded in a statement sent to DailyMail.com

‘And ever since, day in and day out, we’ve worked as a team to strengthen our family and to create a better community and state for our girls, and the hundreds of thousands of kids just like them, so they can safely grow up, live, work and stay right here in Oregon.’

Pulliam was pushed to speak out about his unusual married life after Facebook posts and a photo from Portland’s Erotic Ball in 2011 surfaced. In it, the couple talk about being excited to join the swinging community and he even comments on illicit photos of other members.

It is unclear what effect the uncovered posts will have on Oregon’s Republican primary, set for May 17. However, Pulliam is a favorite to win in the liberal state, and he has said he has no intentions of withdrawing from the race. 

Stan Pulliam, 40 (right), currently the two-term mayor of his hometown of Sandy – about 30 miles from Portland – confessed that he and his wife of twelve years, MacKensey (left), ‘explored relationships, mutual relationships with other couples, for a brief period of time’

Since they moved away from the lifestyle, Pulliam said, he and MacKensey have ‘worked as a team to strengthen our family and to create a better community and state for our girls, and the hundreds of thousands of kids just like them, so they can safely grow up, live, work and stay right here in Oregon’

The revelations about the pro-life Republican’s lifestyle choices came to light after a 2016 screenshot from a page entitled ‘Swinger Facebook Group PDX’ (pictured) was disseminated around local political circles

Pulliam has not yet returned DailyMail.com’s requests for direct comment, although a member of his staff immediately returned a call and said he was currently at a Sandy town board meeting. 

He told the outlet that his past sexual activity is consistent with the values around which he’s built his campaign. 

‘In Oregon, we really cherish values of individuality and liberty,’ he said. 

‘We’re certainly not asking anybody to participate or practice or do any of the things that we have decided to do in the past. But we’re also certainly not ashamed of decisions that we’ve made in the past either, as they’ve made us stronger.’  

The revelations about the pro-life Republican’s lifestyle choices came to light after a 2016 screenshot from a page entitled ‘Swinger Facebook Group PDX’ was disseminated around local political circles. 

‘Hi Everyone!,’ the 2016 post, which includes pictures of Stan and MacKensey Pulliam, reads. 

‘MacKensey and I are excited to be added to your little community. Some of you we have already had the pleasure to meet and we look forward to getting to know the rest of you!’

At the time, the group had 536 members. A photo of Pulliam at Portland’s Erotic Ball in 2011 also made the rounds, although the candidate said it was taken before he and his wife dove into the swinging community. 

In a Zoom interview with the local news outlet on Thursday, with his wife at his side, Pulliam repeatedly refused to expound on when the ‘mutual relationships’ began or ended, although he clarified that they were swinging in 2016 and had stopped by the time he announced his gubernatorial run.    

He added that the photo of him at the Portland Erotic Ball in 2011 was taken before he and MacKensey dove into the swinging lifestyle.  

‘I think people can relate from all different parts of the state who have been involved in marriages,’ he told the outlet. 

‘There are different stages of marriage and different ebbs and flows. This is something that was for a brief period in our past and is in the past.’

Pulliam denied that he was bisexual, an allegation made in the September Reddit post where the screenshots of the swinger’s group post first surfaced. 

‘I’m a heterosexual male,’ Pulliam says. ‘And I’ve only personally engaged in heterosexual activity.’

He also denies that he’s aligned himself with anti-LGBTQ groups in his campaign. 

After the article was published, Pulliam told Pamplin Media Group that he ‘think[s] whenever you run for a position like governor, you go into it with eyes wide open.’ 

Pulliam, pictured with wife MacKensey, said that his past sexual activity is consistent with the values around which he’s built his campaign. ‘In Oregon, we really cherish values of individuality and liberty’

Pulliam (pictured left) is a leader in the GOP primary for Oregon’s top seat, polling just behind frontrunner Bud Pierce. He has raised nearly $1 million in contributions

Pulliam, a father to two daughters, has painted himself as a true conservative in the race and bandied his small-town values

‘[However], I continue to believe this is a private matter.’

The Reddit post also alleges that he and MacKensey were members of Kasidie.com, a personals site for swingers, under the username ‘SandyDuo.’ They have since deleted this profile, the poster alleges, and go by ‘SandyCouple.’

A few days before posting on the page, Pulliam commented on a woman’s bare-chested addition to the group’s newsfeed. 

‘When you just want to feel the breeze on your nipples but you have neighbors,’ reads the text of the post.

‘Wow!!’ replied the now-gubernatorial candidate. 

On a video of an entwined, nude couple captioned ‘House boat 2016,’ Pulliam commented ‘so fun!’

‘We have property on the lake in three rivers at Billy Chinook! There ALL THE TIME! Btw video is incredibly sexy!’  

He also commented on two couples’ introductory posts to the group, welcoming them and calling one pair a ‘very attractive couple!’ 

There are currently twelve candidate vying for Governor Kate Brown’s seat, according to Ballotpedia. With nearly $1 million in contributions, he has outraised all of his competition with the exception of Republican state Representative Christine Drazen of Canby. 

Poll results released by GOP opponent Bud Pierce, an oncologist from Salem who was the Republican nominee in 2016, show Pulliam trailing behind him in second place.  

A few days before posting on the page, Pulliam commented on a woman’s bare-chested addition to the group’s newsfeed

‘Several years ago, MacKensey and I, as a couple explored relationships with other couples for a brief period of time before we ultimately decided to focus solely on each other, our marriage and our family,’ he expounded in a statement sent to DailyMail.com

Pulliam has been a vocal dissident of Brown’s COVID-19 policies, even suing her in federal court over executive orders shutting down businesses.

Pulliam is a steadfast supporter of former President Donald Trump, and questions the results of the 2020 election. Insiders predict that, if Trump were to endorse a candidate in the race, Pulliam would be his pick, according to the Williamette Week. 

‘I am the ONLY candidate who has the courage to say what needs to be said about the integrity of our elections,’ Pulliam tweeted on February 1st. ‘If you want an ACTUAL conservative as your next governor then we need your help!’ 

Comments on social media were mixed, and often cheeky.

 ‘Sandy is now Randy, Oregon… apparently,’ wrote one user. 

‘He’s famous on local issues for saying “Keep Portland from coming to Sandy,” so it’s poetic that Sandy kept going to Portland for coming,’ another user quipped. 

‘There’s nothing wrong with him being a swinger. The hypocrisy is the problem,’ wrote @DurhamFelia. 

 ‘Real family values you got going in GOP,’ wrote another.  

 Oregon hasn’t had a Republican governor since Victor Atiyeh, who entered office in 1979 and left in 1987.   

Pacific University political science professor Jim Moore, who has watched Oregon politics for decades and is currently penning a biography on Atiyeh, said that while ‘Donald Trump can get away with it… Stan Pulliam – I don’t think he can.’

‘He’s raised nearly a million dollars –  he needs to be spending a lot of it right now on pictures of flags and kittens and puppies,’ the professor told the Oregon publication.

Pulliam, a father to two daughters, has painted himself as a true conservative in the race and bandied his small-town values. 

Pulliam advocates himself as a ‘proud pro-life, pro 2A (Second Amendment) pro medical freedom and pro private-property rights conservative’

‘When I look around at Sandy, I can see the Oregon of my childhood,’ Pulliam says in one of his campaign videos. ‘It’s time to restore our pioneer glory.’

He advocates himself as a ‘proud pro-life, pro 2A (Second Amendment) pro medical freedom and pro private-property rights conservative.’

His religious status was unclear at press time.

Pulliam said that, since the screenshots were disseminated, he has received a windfall of calls from campaign supporters. 

‘They’ve all been very positive interactions,’ he said. ‘We have continually heard that people mainly care about MacKensey and I, and they just want to make sure that we’re handling this okay.’