LANSING, MI (MPRN, AP)-- The state House has voted to remove Cindy Gamrat as a state representative, while Todd Courser chose to resign early Friday morning rather than face expulsion.
The two Tea Party lawmakers were at the center of a sex-and-cover-up scandal that’s roiled Lansing and Michigan politics for weeks now.
But Gamrat said she deserved censure, not expulsion for her role, and her family wanted her to fight.
“Resigning would have been a whole lot easier, I’ll tell you that, but sometimes the easy roads aren’t the best roads to take,” she said.
Gamrat is only the fourth Michigan lawmaker in the state’s history to be expelled, although others have resigned as they were about to face that punishment.
Republican Representative Todd Courser announced his resignation early Friday morning, saying it was effective immediately. He was escorted out of the chamber. His decision came amid a marathon session in the House over whether he and Gamrat should stay in their jobs.
On Thursday, a disciplinary committee recommended the expulsion of both lawmakers. But the chamber was deadlocked for hours over what discipline Courser should receive, as dozens of minority Democrats abstained from voting and criticized the process.
Courser sent a phony email claiming he was caught with a male prostitute. It was an effort to make the affair less believable if it were exposed by an anonymous blackmailer. He apologized but previously said he would not resign.
Courser said he quit because it was plain House GOP leaders were not going to relent until he was removed.
“You know, it’s an unfortunate chapter where we’re at, obviously, for the state House, for the state, for the Legislature, for my own family. It’s to turn a page and take a step forward and go in a different direction,” he said.
