As women who accused state Rep. Steve Lebsock of harassment looked on inside a somber chamber, the Colorado House of Representatives on Friday expelled the lawmaker from office in a vote the like of which hasn’t been seen in more than a century.

After a week of political infighting and complaints about due process, the vote brought to an abrupt conclusion the saga that began in November, when state Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, became the first of five women to file complaints of sexual harassment against the former Democrat from Thornton.

And Friday morning, it was Winter who set the tone for what would be a difficult, emotional day at the state Capitol. In her opening remarks, she told the House that voting to keep Lebsock in office would send a signal to women and victims of sexual harassment throughout the state that “our voices don’t matter.”

Instead, by a 52-9 vote, lawmakers sent a different message, making Lebsock the second legislator in the nation to be removed from office over harassment allegations since the rise of the #MeToo movement. Lebsock’s accusers watched him — over a span of about seven hours — become a former state representative.

“To all those women out there that didn’t know if their voices were heard,” Winter said after the vote, “all of the women in this building that didn’t know if they could be treated for their minds and their ideas and their policy ideas: You won today. Your voices matter.”

Thirty-six Democrats and 16 Republicans voted for expulsion, easily clearing the 44-vote threshold needed to secure a two-thirds majority in the 65-member chamber. Nine Republicans voted against it, citing widespread concerns about the process lawmakers used to determine Lebsock’s guilt and punishment. Three others — all from the GOP — were absent.

Lebsock abstained from the vote, maintaining his innocence after rejecting a final plea to resign from House Speaker Crisanta Duran.

“Simply vote your conscience,” Lebsock told lawmakers in his final remarks from the House floor. “It’s OK. Take care.”

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Rep. Steve Lebsock stands behind fellow representatives as he listens to testimony in support of and against him before a rare vote to expel State Representative Steve Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, reads a letter from a fellow victim as representatives and people in the gallery stand in honor before a rare vote to expel State Representative Steve Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018. Lebsock, of Thornton, in Nov. was publicly accused by state Rep. Winter and two other women of sexual harassment.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, speaks before fellow representatives before a rare vote to expel State Representative Steve Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.



AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Rep. Steve Lebsock stands behind fellow representatives as he listens to testimony in support of and against him before a rare Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, stands with fellow representatives before a rare vote to expel State Representative Steve Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018. Lebsock, of Thornton, in Nov. was publicly accused by state Rep. Winter and two other women of sexual harassment.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post A packed Colorado State House of Representatives before a rare vote to expel State Representative Steve Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.



AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post Colorado Rep. Donald Valdez, shown at the Capitol in March 2018, has decided not to run for Congress.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Rep. Steve Lebsock stands behind fellow representatives as he listens to testimony in support of and against him before a rare Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Representative Steve Lebsock addresses issues of retaliation against his accusers before a rare vote to expel him as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018. Lebsock, of Thornton, in Nov. was publicly accused by state Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, and two other women of sexual harassment. The three women - and two others who haven't come forward publicly - filed a series of formal complaints that an independent investigator this week determined were credible.



AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, stands with fellow representatives Alec Garnett, Dave Young and Mike Foote before a rare vote to expel State Representative Steve Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Representative Steve Lebsock addresses issues of retaliation against his accusers before a rare vote to expel him as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Representative Steve Lebsock hangs out of the public view in a side room of the house floor before a rare vote to expel him as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.



AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post Rep. Millie Hamner holds back tears after an emotional testimony by Rep. Larry Liston, who changed his vote in support of Rep. Steve Lebsock to against, and by Rep. Faith Winter before a rare vote to expel Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post Cassie Tanner, one of Lebsock's accusers, is held by Rep. Dominique Jackson, D-Aurora, after an emotional testimony by Rep. Larry Liston, R-Colorado Springs, who changed his vote in support of Rep. Steve Lebsock to against, and by Rep. Faith Winter before a rare vote to expel Lebsock as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018.

AAron Ontiveroz, The Denver Post State Representative Steve Lebsock hangs out of the public view in a side room of the house floor before a rare vote to expel him as he faces accusations of sexual harassment at the Colorado State Capitol on Friday, March 2, 2018. Lebsock, of Thornton, in Nov. was publicly accused by state Rep. Faith Winter, D-Westminster, and two other women of sexual harassment. The three women - and two others who haven't come forward publicly - filed a series of formal complaints that an independent investigator this week determined were credible.



Lawmakers on Friday grappled with the gravity of their vote — and the tension between protecting the integrity of the institution and the historic precedent they could set by removing a democratically elected official from office.

“I hope it gives you pause,” said Rep. Hugh McKean, R-Loveland, who ultimately voted for expulsion. “Because that’s what we’re talking about. The representation of (tens of) thousands of our citizens.”

The only other time the House has removed a lawmaker — the 1915 expulsion of Rep. William Howlett, after he perjured himself during a bribery investigation — came at the recommendation of a committee.

The significance of the punishment, Republicans said, is why the process used to determine guilt was paramount. On Wednesday, they unsuccessfully pushed to delay the pending expulsion vote to convene an ethics panel to review the matter. And as late as Thursday afternoon, several Republicans complained that they still hadn’t had time to read and understand the redacted investigative documents. Several on Friday maintained that expulsion was tantamount to usurping the will of the voters.

“When I’m looking at whether we should expel a member — sort of the most nuclear option that we have to deal with conduct here — I think it has to be such a high level,” said Rep. Justin Everett, a Littleton Republican, who voted against it.

Against that backdrop, passage seemed unlikely for much of the day.

But ultimately, Lebsock’s fate was sealed not by the outside investigation that determined he probably harassed and solicited sex from women he worked with, but because lawmakers in both parties believed he retaliated against the women for coming forward to complain.

Before the legislature convened in January, Lebsock took polygraph tests purporting to show his innocence and distributed a 28-page dossier to each lawmaker telling his side of the story. The document also detailed some of the women’s sexual histories and levied accusations against them.

“There is a correct way to fight back and an incorrect way to fight back,” said Assistant Minority Leader Cole Wist, R-Centennial, who voted to expel him. “He was he going to defend himself through the process, through the policy that we have. … And faced with that decision, Rep. Lebsock … sent this document to all of us.”

Winter spoke at length about the pain and difficulty of sharing her account of harassment, recalling how she spent months nervously avoiding Lebsock in elevators and stairwells at the Capitol after he allegedly harassed her at a party in May 2016. After she went public in last November, she said, she has suffered “attack after attack” meant to “victim-blame me, embarrass me.”

“I’ve had my sex life tweeted about because of this,” Winter said.

But she said she was compelled to come forward because she felt she had a credibility and a power that Lebsock’s other accusers lacked.

Lawmakers wept openly in the chamber as colleagues shared personal stories of harassment, abuse and rape suffered by themselves or loved ones.

Reps. Alec Garnet and Matt Gray — two Democrats who were among Winter’s earliest and most vocal public supporters — said they’ve been wearing bulletproof vests to the Capitol in recent weeks because they feared violent retaliation from Lebsock. Another lawmaker, Rep. Brittany Pettersen, D-Lakewood, said a number of lobbying firms warned their employees to steer clear of the Capitol on Friday because of similar concerns.

Lebsock teared up at the suggestion that he would take up arms against his colleagues.

“Members,” Lebsock said, “I am an honorably discharged Marine Corps veteran. And if someone walked in here — members, you would have had me here to protect you. Even the ones that don’t like me. I’m just hoping you know that.”

After more than six hours of debate, Lebsock took to the lectern a final time.

“There’s no reason for me to lie. I know the vote count,” he said, again denying the accusations against him. “It’s been the honor of my life to serve the people of Colorado, and I was willing to fight this year for the people of Colorado. Members, please remember that we should always strive to do the right thing.”

He left the chamber soon after.

But his parting shot to Democrats wasn’t apparent until later that day. About an hour before the vote, Lebsock changed his party affiliation to Republican — a move that could put the seat in GOP hands when the vacancy is filled.

After the vote was cast, Cassie Tanner — a former legislative staffer who accused Lebsock of unbuttoning her blouse at a party — looked a bit shocked as she spoke with supporters.

“I came in here today expecting a very different result, and I’m relieved and grateful,” she said. “My faith was just restored in this place that I love.”

Where House members stand

“Pos.” indicates the position the legislator held before Friday’s vote. If viewing on mobile, scroll right to see more details. This table will be updated after the vote is cast on Friday.

Yes

No

Undecided

Refused to say