Ted Stevens was convicted on seven felony counts, and may face Senate expulsion. McConnell calls on Stevens to resign

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is calling on Ted Stevens to resign from the Senate – and warning that the longest-serving Republican senator in history will face certain expulsion if he doesn’t leave on his own first.

McConnell, locked in a tough reelection fight in Kentucky, did not call for Stevens’ resignation in his initial statement on the Alaskan’s conviction on seven federal felonies Monday.


But Republican Sens. John McCain, Norm Coleman, Jim DeMint, John Sununu and Gordon Smith and Democrat Barack Obama all called on Stevens to resign Tuesday.

And by the time a reporter from the Lexington Herald-Leader put the question to him at a campaign stop Elizabethtown, Ky., Tuesday night, McConnell was ready to say that Stevens must go, too.

"I think he should resign immediately," McConnell said. "If he did not do that ... there is a 100 percent certainty that he would be expelled from the Senate.”

McConnell's call – not to mention his threat — represents a serious blow to Stevens’s political standing, both for next week's election and beyond if Stevens somehow defeats his Democratic opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. With McConnell, a former chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee, publicly calling for him to leave office, Stevens cannot make the argument that GOP leaders back him or are willing to wait for his likely appeal to go forward.

And McConnell's statement may force other top Senate Republicans, or even the White House, to join the chorus demanding his ouster.

While the Senate can expel Stevens, senators are clearly hoping that he saves them from the excruciating and embarrassing task of expelling him – or that Alaska’s voters do it for them when they go to the polls on Tuesday.



"Voters will determine Ted Stevens' fate much more quickly than the Senate could at this point," said one Senate Republican aide. "Should he be reelected, however, he will most certainly face serious and immediate consequences in the 111th Congress."

Another top GOP aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that “the voters in Alaska will be the judge and jury” in deciding Stevens’ fate at this time, not his Senate colleagues.

This aide also pointed out that the Senate is not even session until mid-November, after the election, so senators couldn’t expel Stevens before that time even if they wanted to. And the reality for senators is that they often avoid having to make a choice if they can.

National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman John Ensign issued a statement Monday saying that he was “disappointed” to see Stevens’ career “end in disgrace.” That was as far as any senator — Republican or Democrat — had gone until McCain said Tuesday morning that Stevens “has broken his trust with the people” and “should step down.”

Even McCain’s running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, had initially stopped short of calling for Stevens’ resignation.

But when McCain called on Stevens to resign Tuesday morning, he launched a parade of followers. Palin soon joined in the call, as did Obama, the Democrats’ presidential nominee.

Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Monday that she’s going to stand by Stevens as he fights his conviction, and Hawaii Democratic Sen. Daniel Inouye counseled patience.

But most Democrats have been conspicuously circumspect about Stevens’ fate. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) issued a statement Monday calling the conviction “personal tragedy.” But if he meant to call for Stevens’ resignation, he did it in language that was less than explicit.

“Sen. Stevens must now respect the outcome of the judicial process and the dignity of the United States Senate,” Reid said.

Other top Democrats, including New York Sen. Charles Schumer, have likewise held their fire, preferring to take a low-profile approach to the controversy.

Reid, Schumer and other Democratic leaders are hoping that Stevens loses his reelection bid. If Stevens holds on to win, the Democrats will want the Republicans to take the lead in ousting him – over the wishes of the state’s electorate. In the Democrats’ eyes, this is a Republican problem, and one they’ll need to take the lead in fixing.

According to the U.S. Senate Web site, only four sitting senators have been convicted of crimes. Three of them resigned before they could be expelled; a fourth died first.

In a brief hallway interview with Fox News on Tuesday, Stevens predicted that he would win reelection on Nov. 4.

“Absolutely,” he said as he strode down the hallway.

Asked about his future plans, Stevens said: “I’ll tell the Alaskans.”

Daniel W. Reilly contributed to this story.

