State Rep. Daniel Patterson, who is facing domestic-violence charges related to a messy breakup with his girlfriend, Georgette Escobar, is the subject of a hearing of the House Ethics Committee today.

The Ethics Committee will decide how to move forward with the complaint against Patterson, which was signed by nearly all of his Democratic colleagues in the House of Representatives (with the exception of members of the Ethics Committee, who will have to sit in judgment of Patterson.)

Patterson has also been stripped of his voting rights on House committees by Speaker Andy Tobin, although Tobin's spokesman, Rey Torres, tells The Range that Tobin will revisit that decision after today's hearing.

Meanwhile, Patterson, who represents Legislative District 29, continues to lose local support. At last night's LD 29 Democratic Committee Meeting, a resolution calling for Patterson's resignation passed with with zero no votes and one abstention:

With criminal charges and an ethics investigation by the House of Representatives pending, the LD29 Democrats call for the resignation of Rep. Daniel Patterson for lack of decorum and professionalism.

In related news: The Range has learned that Escobar is out on bail after being arrested in La Paz County on drug-possession charges.