Reuters: Politics: Illinois House of Representatives expels indicted Democrat

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Illinois House of Representatives expels indicted Democrat Aug 17th 2012, 19:04 By James B. Kelleher SPRINGFIELD, Illinois | Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:04pm EDT SPRINGFIELD, Illinois (Reuters) - The Illinois House of Representatives on Friday expelled a Democratic lawmaker indicted for bribery, the first member to be booted from the chamber since 1905. State House Representative Derrick Smith, who represents a staunchly Democratic district in Chicago, was arrested in March and charged with accepting a $7,000 bribe in exchange for endorsing a daycare center's state grant application. He has denied the charges. Days after his arrest and indictment, Smith won the Democratic Party primary to contest the November 6 election, in part because some Democrats hoped he would resign and be replaced on the ballot. But Smith refused to bow out, and on Friday the full Illinois House voted 100 to 6 to expel him. Smith was due to hold a news conference later on Friday. Smith's lawyer said last month that the move to expel him was a political decision. Chicago and Illinois have a reputation for political corruption. The previous two governors of the state -- Republican George Ryan and Democrat Rod Blagojevich -- are serving time in federal prisons. Numerous local, county and state Illinois officials have been charged in recent years with taking bribes, accepting kickbacks or other corruption. The last member of the Illinois House to be expelled was Frank Comerford, who was ousted for naming other members who had taken money from lobbyists. Comerford subsequently was reelected, the Illinois Secretary of State's office said. (Additional reporting by Andrew Stern and Karen Pierog; Editing by Greg McCune and Paul Simao) Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints

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