Today Senator Karin Housley (R-Stillwater) filed a motion on the Senate floor in response to the felony committed by Senator Nicole Mitchell last Monday. The motion asked that “The Secretary of the Senate, on behalf of the members of the body, prepare a formal request for the resignation of Senator Nicole Mitchell.”

This action follows the filing of a protest and dissent letter, which was filed yesterday by the Senate Republican Caucus. That letter expressed dissent against any bills being passed using Sen. Mitchell’s vote as the deciding factor.

“What we are seeing is a clear abuse of power by the Senate Democrats, who are failing to hold Sen. Mitchell responsible for her actions, and are using her as a way to pass their legislation,” said Housley. “This is an unprecedented situation. Never before has a sitting senator been charged with breaking into somebody’s home in the middle of the night, dressed in black, sneaking through a basement window, and using a flashlight covered by a sock. Senator Mitchell said herself, ‘I know I did a bad thing and I’m not very good at this.’ As a result of her actions, there is a temporary restraining order on her, Democrat leaders have urged her to resign, and Senate Democrat leadership claims they removed her from the caucus. Yet despite those facts, she was allowed to cast a vote against the very motion that would have requested her resignation. This is a clear example of a conflict of interest and an abuse of power. The Democrats’ failure to pass this motion shows that they are more willing to support and defend a charged felon, instead of upholding the integrity of the Senate.”

The motion was defeated on a party-line vote, with Sen. Mitchell being the deciding vote.