"Honestly, I am sorry"

And with that, Rep Sheryl Williams-Stapleton paid her penance for calling the Governor a "Mexican".

She won't even accept personal responsibility for the slur.
She apologized "... for the hurtful words that were said ...";
not for the words she said. The words apparently,
said themselves.

Any sane person is sorry for their misconduct.
They're especially sorry when they get caught.
If they've done something really, really bad,
then they're really, really sorry.

With that as the bar, Williams-Stapleton has done no more
than anyone in the same situation would do. That makes her,
not a leader.

Williams-Stapleton's Democratic colleagues won't ask her to resign, though they would be howling for her resignation if she were a Republican and everyone knows it. She should resign her leadership position anyway.

A leader does not simply accept consequences for their mistakes, they provide them. They show subordinates what it looks like to step up to real consequences for real failure to meet agreed upon standards of conduct. They show subordinates that they are willing to hold themselves honestly accountable to the same standards of conduct they establish and enforce upon others.

They stand aside when they can no longer lead.