Facing possible expulsion, Wilkerson quits Senate

[Mugu]

boston.com

State Senator Dianne Wilkerson, facing open scorn from her colleagues and the possibility of a humiliating vote to strip her of her seat, resigned yesterday from the office she held for nearly 16 years, leaving behind a career punctuated by last month's arrest on federal bribery charges.

Wilkerson submitted a two-sentence letter of resignation to the Senate president, handwritten in cursive on a blank sheet of paper, at 9:45 a.m.

The ramifications, though, were anything but simple. Her departure marks the second Senate resignation in the last five days, both by liberal Democrats. Combined, they represent the first resignations tied to criminal investigations in more than three decades. And her departure leaves the chamber without a black member.

Senate President Therese Murray, in a dramatic speech yesterday on the Senate floor designed to soothe a chamber reeling from the scandals, urged lawmakers to "commit ourselves to ensuring the public trust."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/11/20/facing_possible_expulsion_wilkerson_quits_senate/">Complete article

[rurallib]

1. Thank you for the reminder that Democrats have their stinkers also

power corrupts.