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California state Senator Roderick Wright plans to resign from office later this month following a perjury and voter fraud conviction that saw him sentenced to 90 days in jail, he said in a letter sent on Monday.
Wright, who was convicted in January of lying about whether he lived in the district he sought to represent, was the first of three California Senate Democrats to face criminal proceedings this year. This effectively cost the party a cherished two-thirds majority in the California Senate.
A Los Angeles Superior Court judge sentenced Wright on Friday to 90 days in jail and said he was no longer eligible to hold office in California.
“Effective Sept. 22, 2014, I hereby resign from the California State Senate,” the Los Angeles-area Democrat wrote in a letter to the secretary of the legislative body on Monday, three days after his sentence was handed down.
California state Senate Democratic leader Darrell Steinberg had urged Wright on Friday to resign, saying he was free to appeal his case as a private citizen. A Steinberg spokesman said Steinberg had accepted Wright's pending resignation.
Candidates for U.S. Congress are not required to live in their districts, but state lawmakers are mandated to do so under California law. Prosecution under the law is somewhat rare, however.
