Disgraced Sen. Don Meredith is resigning from the Senate rather than wait to see if his colleagues expel him for engaging in a sexual relationship with a teenage girl.
The Senate was poised to vote as early as Wednesday on a Senate ethics committee report, which last week concluded that Meredith is unfit to serve as a senator and recommended that the upper house take the unprecedented step of expelling him.
But in a statement today, Meredith says he recognizes that the Senate is more important than his ``moral failings.''
He says he's decided to move forward with his life, with the full support of his wife and children, and expresses the hope that his absence from the chamber will allow senators to focus on their good work.
His lawyer, Bill Trudell, confirms that Meredith has decided to resign, although he doesn't specifically say so in the statement.
The committee's recommendation followed an explosive report from Senate ethics officer Lyse Ricard earlier this year.