Fattah sent a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., indicating that he would be resigning October 3, one day before he is scheduled to be sentenced.
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A spokesman for Pennsylvania’s Democratic Gov. Tom Wolf said Wolf thinks Fattah should resign, the Inquirer reported, while Mayor Jim Kenney didn’t directly urge Fattah to resign, but said the district should have a member who can vote.
“Out of respect for the entire House leadership, and so as not to cause a distraction from the House’s work for the people, I have changed my effective [resignation] date”, he wrote to Ryan.
“I am honored to have had the privilege to serve”, he wrote in a resignation letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan. One way to save the cost would be to hold the special election on the same day as the November 8 general election. He said the law also stipulates that “an election can not be held before 60 days from the day the governor sets the date”.
The 11-term congressman lost April’s Democratic primary to State Rep Dwight Evans, so his time in Washington was winding down anyway.
The election code states that the governor must call a special election within ten-days of the effective date of the resignation, and an election can not be held before 60-days from the day the governor sets the date. Fattah, a veteran Pennsylvania congressman, was convicted Tuesday in a racketeering case that largely centered on various efforts to repay an illegal $1 million campaign loan related to his unsuccessful 2007 mayoral bid.
The decision follows Fattah’s conviction on charges of racketeering, fraud and money laundering.
Fattah, 59, has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers blamed two political consultants who acted without the congressman’s knowledge.
Fattah was left scrambling to repay the loan.
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According to John Bresnahan of Politico, senior lawmakers in the House were less than thrilled by Fattah’s proposed resignation date, which is only a day before his sentencing in federal court. “I told him to do the right thing”.
