GOP fails in attempt to expel Sen. Roderick Wright from office
SACRAMENTO -- Senate Democrats on Thursday blocked an attempt by Republican lawmakers to expel Sen. Roderick Wright (D-Inglewood), who last month was found guilty of eight felony charges including perjury and voter fraud.
A resolution by three Republican Senators to expel Wright was referred by Democrats to committee, where it is expected to languish until a trial judge acts May 16 on a request by Wright to overturn the jury verdict.
The Senate voted 21 to 13 largely along party lines to shelve the resolution. Sen. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) voted against the referral.
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) angrily denounced the GOP motion to expel Wright as “pure political theater” and said the Rules Committee will look at whether other lawmakers are violating residency requirements.
He noted Wright is already on a leave of absence.
Sen. Joel Anderson (R-Alpine) objected to the decision not to allow a vote on the motion to expel Wright.
“The minority party deserves a vote,” Anderson said. “It’s not right in Congress when they don’t allow a vote and it’s not right here in the people’s Senate.”
Steinberg said it was premature to expel Wright until the trial judge decides whether to approve the jury verdict and sentence Wright.
Prosecutors convinced a Los Angeles jury that Wright lied when he filed declarations saying he was living in Inglewood in his Senate district when he was actually living outside the district in the upscale neighborhood of Baldwin Hills.
Republican Sens. Anderson, Stephen Knight of Palmdale and Andy Vidak of Hanford introduced Senate Resolution 29, saying the Senate should not wait for the May 16 court hearing to expel Wright.
“The practices, traditions and standards of the Senate in previous cases involving senators convicted of felonies have led to swift and decisive actions by Senate leaders of the recent past,” the resolution says.
It would take a two-thirds vote to expel Wright. A separate motion by Senate Republican leader Bob Huff of Diamond Bar would suspend Wright but it was not acted on Thursday.
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