Tucker to Resign From Congress to Avoid Expulsion : Government: In a letter to the governor, the Compton lawmaker convicted of bribery and tax evasion says he never betrayed his constituents. Action takes effect Friday.

By JEFF LEEDS and JAMES BORNEMEIER

Dec. 13, 1995 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Rep. Walter R. Tucker III said Tuesday that he will resign from Congress effective Friday, rather than face expulsion from the House of Representatives in the wake of his conviction last week for extortion and tax evasion.

The 38-year-old Tucker, a two-term Democrat from Compton and one of the favorite sons of his southeast Los Angeles district, announced his decision in a terse letter to Gov. Pete Wilson and congressional leaders in Washington. But he insisted that he never betrayed his constituents and scheduled a news conference for this morning to discuss the district’s future.

“Contrary to what anyone has ever said or intimated, I have never sold out my constituents or my oath of office,” he wrote. “I am fully persuaded that in the near future God will vindicate my name.”

His pending departure will come one week after a federal jury found him guilty of extorting $30,000 from a businessman-turned-FBI informant and cheating on his income taxes while he was mayor of Compton.

A spokesman for Wilson said the governor will schedule a special election to find a successor for Tucker’s 37th District seat sometime after the vacancy becomes official.

Despite his resignation, Tucker said in the letter that he plans to appeal the verdict.

“While I finally received my day in court, I, unfortunately, was not judged by a jury of my peers and in my opinion did not receive a just verdict,” he wrote. “Nevertheless, that verdict is a reality pending appeal.”

Tucker was unavailable for comment Tuesday.

House rules permit a member convicted of a crime to keep his seat, receive his salary and seek reelection if he is not expelled by his fellow lawmakers. But, Tucker said, “it was never my intention to put the Congress through an expulsion vote if I were convicted.”

If Tucker had not resigned voluntarily, he also would have faced a required ethics committee inquiry that might have led to a forced expulsion.

His decision to vacate the seat means that potential office-seekers will not have to take on an incumbent and may have a clearer path to Capitol Hill.

Assemblywoman Anita M. McDonald (D-Carson) had been mentioned as a possible candidate. A spokesman said she is now likely to seek the seat. “She really wanted to give Tucker a chance to exercise his options,” said Vincent Harris, her chief of staff. “I think that, now that he has, she intends to run.”

Assemblyman Willard Murray Jr., the only person who has filed as a candidate for the seat, said he had expected Tucker to quit and that his decision would not affect the race. “If history is any guide, if he had not resigned, the House would have expelled him,” Murray said.

In fact, word that Tucker had chosen to bow out reached Washington just as Rep. James Sensenbrenner Jr. (R-Wis.) was introducing a resolution to expel him.

“I give Mr. Tucker credit for recognizing that felons really do not belong in Congress,” Sensenbrenner said. “This prevents the House from going through a very painful and emotional expulsion debate.”

Tucker’s district, which includes Compton, Carson, Watts, Wilmington and parts of Long Beach, is so overwhelmingly Democratic that political observers say winning the primary election, now scheduled for March, is tantamount to victory in the fall race. If Wilson decides to set a special election, it could be held as the one and only contest for the seat and eliminate the general election. Even so, observers say the Democrats are extremely unlikely to lose the district.

Local leaders lauded Tucker for giving up the seat, saying the announcement will permit the city to start fresh and repair its image.

“What he’s doing is allowing the city of Compton and the district to look at the possibility of new faces,” said the Rev. William R. Johnson Jr., pastor of the Curry Temple CME. “It’s courageous to take this step so soon after the conviction, especially because he didn’t have to.”

Tucker was the fourth California congressman to be convicted of a crime while in office. Not all of the others gave up their seats, despite repeated calls for expulsion. Rep. Andrew J. Hinshaw (R-Newport Beach) was convicted in 1976 of accepting bribes while serving as Orange County assessor, but he finished out his second and last term after the verdict, defeating a motion by his colleagues to oust him from Congress.