By an overwhelming majority, the Arkansas House voted on Friday to expel state Rep. Mickey Gates, R- Hot Springs, over the lawmaker's no-contest plea to failing to file or pay taxes.
The 88-4 vote easily surpassed the two-thirds threshold needed to expel a member. It marked the first time in over a century that a member had been expelled by the House.
In a last-ditch effort to plea his case, Gates attempted humor that fell flat on the House floor and then attempted to explain to his colleagues the legal rationale behind his plea deal, despite his maintained innocence.
Ultimately however, Gates told colleagues to vote their conscience and not let personal ties weigh on their decision. "I am a flawed individual," he said.
Gates was arrested in June 2018 and accused of owing more than $259,000 in back taxes to the state. Still, he defied calls to step down from most of the state's Republican leadership and was handily re-elected to his seat last November.
Efforts to remove the lawmaker ramped up earlier this year after Gates pleaded no-contest to a single charge of failing to file a tax return in June.
Gates again rebuffed those efforts, arguing that his plea deal did not amount to a conviction, because his case can be dismissed without a final adjudication if he completes all the terms of his probation, which includes playing the state $74,789 in back taxes.
House Speaker Matthew Shepherd nonetheless moved forward with the effort to remove Gates. Shepherd’s resolution stated that Gates’ no-contest plea to “a public trust crime” was unbecoming a member of the House of Representatives.
Presenting his resolution Friday, he said "the onus" was placed on the chamber to remove Gates once he entered his plea.
Support for Gates' removal had grown slowly in the weeks before the Friday's caucus. A total of 59 lawmakers had told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette they were ready to expel Gates in a final poll taken by the newspaper last week.
Many other lawmakers, however, said they would wait to listen to Gates' defense before making their final decision.
The last time a member was expelled from the House was in 1837 prior to the adoption of the state’s current constitution. Then-House Speaker John Wilson was booted from the body after stabbing a member to death on the floor during a debate over wolf-scalp legislation.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Gates is on parole. He is on probation.