Resigned and Expelled
LANSING, Mich. — It took 14 hours, two failed votes and a day full of drama, but at 3:12 a.m. Friday, Michigan state Rep. Todd Courser resigned from his state House seat, and an hour later, Rep. Cindy Gamrat was expelled on a 91-12 vote, ending a controversial sex and cover-up scandal that has rocked Lansing for the last month. “I felt is was the appropriate thing to do. I put everybody through a whole bunch, my family, constituents and the people in this room,” Courser said. “You go 14-15 hours later, they would have been doing a third vote. I felt they were just going to go until they got their answer.” His resignation letter was short and simple: “I hereby tender my resignation from the Michigan House of Representatives effective immediately. It has been an honor serving with the dedicated members and staff of the House of Representatives.” Gamrat decided to stick it out and asked her colleagues to censure, rather than expel her. “I firmly believe in restoration and redemption,” she said.” I have done everything I can to redeem this situation and I’m sincerely sorry for what this has caused. I still believe my actions warrant censure, but not expulsion.Her colleagues disagreed, voting 91-12 to expel her with five Democrats declining to vote on the matter. It appeared throughout the evening that Courser and Gamrat, two tea party Republicans caught up in a sex and cover-up scandal, might save their jobs, thanks to Democrats. Twenty-six Democrats initially refused to vote on a resolution to expel Courser, leaving the expulsion vote six votes shy of the 73 votes needed to remove the lawmaker from office.”