GOP Unsure of When to Punish Stevens

By The Hill, Manu Raju

November 14, 2008

Sen. Ted Stevens's (R) unsettled Senate race has put Republicans in a tough spot as they prepare to debate his future next week.

Many Republicans say they shouldn't allow a convicted felon to return to their conference, but they are unsure whether to kick him out before the Alaska Senate race is called.

"Logic suggests that you would have to have someone in office first before you kick him out of office," a GOP leadership aide said, but added that the senator's fate within the conference is far from clear.

Stevens, 84, was convicted of seven felony counts last month for failing to report gifts he received from an oil contractor. A defiant Stevens calls the verdict unjust, and is seeking reelection for a seventh full term while appealing the conviction.

Following his conviction, which occurred just eight days before Election Day, top Republicans, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), called on him to resign. And it appeared that Stevens's hopes of keeping his Senate seat of 40 years were doomed.

But Stevens is still hanging on, trailing by just 0.39 percent of the vote with thousands of uncounted ballots looming. If the final margin is within 0.5 percent, Stevens or Democratic challenger Mark Begich could request a recount, a process that could extend the race into December.

"If Sen. Ted Stevens were to be reelected, I think it would be very difficult, as a convicted felon, that he should remain in the conference," Sen. Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) said Thursday. "I think the Republican Party needs to send a signal that we are at a moment of time and at history that we are not to tolerate that."

But before his election is decided, Republicans may vote as early as Tuesday on a motion by Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) to strip Stevens of his committee assignments and kick him out of the conference that he has served in longer than any senator in history. DeMint says Republicans need to show they are rooting out corruption in their ranks. The motion, which DeMint will offer Tuesday regardless of the status of the race, needs to be seconded before it is put to a secret vote.

Martinez said he did not know how he would vote.

McConnell, who said on the campaign trail with "100 percent certainty" that Stevens would be expelled from the Senate if he wins reelection but loses on appeal, has not commented on DeMint's motion.

Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) said Thursday that voting to kick Stevens out of the conference would be "premature" before the election is called and the appeal occurs.

"My position has always been we have due process rights in our Constitution," Crapo said. "Until a person has been alloted all of their rights, we should withhold judgment."

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) has made similar comments.

Regardless of what Republicans do on Tuesday, Stevens still would hold onto his Senate seat until two-thirds of the chamber votes to expel him from the conference. If he wins reelection, an Ethics Committee investigation would likely begin in January.

Adding another wrinkle to the drama is DeMint's sometimes-testy relationship with GOP leaders, who were caught off-guard by his motion to kick Stevens out. Some senior aides suggest DeMint's unpopularity with GOP leaders makes it harder to win their support.

"It's important that we do this now, or he'll be representing the Republican Party during the lameduck session," said Wesley Denton, a spokesman for DeMint.

On Wednesday, Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, the top GOP campaign strategist, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss (Ga.), who is facing a Dec. 2 runoff election, both said they would boot Stevens from the conference. But it's unclear how they will vote Tuesday, since Stevens's race is far from settled.

"First of all, I hope Sen. Stevens is successful in being reelected. And assuming that he is, I intend to support any motion to remove him,” Chambliss said, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Ensign, who has also called on Stevens to resign, said he wanted to wait to see what happens to Stevens's race first.

“It’s probably better to let Alaska — it’s probably going to take a while to count all the votes up there — let that take place, then after the first of the year deal with it,” Ensign said, according to the newspaper.

If Stevens is kicked out of the Senate and wins reelection, a special election would occur to fill his seat, and Gov. Sarah Palin (R) has sounded open to running for the seat.