In a sign that people will vote for crooks as long as they consider them a member of the team, William Jefferson has won re-election to the House of Representative. The Louisiana Democrat won 57% of the vote in a runoff against a fellow Democrat despite having been caught with $90,000 cash in his freezer during a federal corruption investigation:

Voters looked past a federal bribery investigation of Rep. William J. Jefferson (D-La.) and reelected the eight-term congressman in a runoff election Saturday.

Jefferson grabbed a commanding lead over state Rep. Karen Carter, a fellow Democrat, almost as soon as the polls closed in the New Orleans district. With 44 percent of the precincts reporting, Jefferson, had 61 percent of the vote.

Louisiana's 2nd District was one of the nation's last unresolved midterm races, and the runoff election put Jefferson in danger of becoming the only Democratic incumbent to lose this election year.

In her concession speech, Carter embraced family members and pledged to work with Jefferson, particularly on the area's recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

"I guess the people are happy with the status quo," she said.

If people are happy with the status quo of corrupt politicians, they can only come from New Orleans, one of the most corrupt cities in the US. Let's recall that Jefferson not only kept scads of cash in his freezer, but also hijacked National Guard rescuers to help him clean out his house in the middle of the Katrina evacuation. He took valuable resources away from the very people who just re-elected them in order to get special privilege on salvaging his personal property while the citizens of New Orleans begged for help.

And they elected him anyway. What a disgrace.

My first thought was that the Democrats should refuse to seat him, but that wouldn't be the right thing to do. The voters elected the crook, and the crook should take his seat, until he's convicted of his corruption. The new Democratic leadership should not take a page from Denny Hastert, however, and act to protect Jefferson from completely legal searches of his offices. Democrats and Republicans alike should demand that Nancy Pelosi drop all efforts to keep the FBI from reviewing the material seized during that search, and encourage the FBI to continue its work in fighting corruption.

And then when he's convicted, the House should refuse to seat a replacement. The Democrats don't need the seat for their majority, and both parties should make it clear that consequences will follow from knowingly sending a corrupt politician back to Congress. That might discourage the "he's our crook" thinking in the future.

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» Shocking: Corrupt William Jefferson Wins Runoff from Assorted Babble by Suzie
Louisiana voters have re-elected U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, this is absolutely shocking!! This corrupt Liberal Congressman is headed back to Washington, despite all the cold cash found in his freezer. [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 9:52 AM

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Nancy Pelosi, at the helm of the San Francisco Democrats, part of the Federal Hockey League, faces a serious challenge coaching in one of their upcoming preseason games. Management has brought back William "Freezer" Jefferson U.S. Rep. Willia... [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 9:59 AM

» JEFFERSON REELECTED, NO FREEZER BURN from BLINKERED THINKER
Kleptocrat William Jefferson wasn’t frozen out by New Orleans voters yesterday when they reelected him to another term. Captain’s Quarters, upset that voters there didn’t give WJ the heave-ho, observes: If people are happy with the s... [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 10:43 AM

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For the past two years, voters have heard Democrats rail against Republican corruption and ethics, yet we’ve seen, time and time again, Democrats who have their own problems. Say what you will abo… ... [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 10:44 AM

» William Jefferson wins re-election from Bill's Bites
I'm too disgusted to even comment. Just read these posts: Breaking: William Jefferson wins re-election The Freezer Money Wasn't Needed, Apparently Freezer burn: Cold Cash Jefferson wins [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 12:00 PM

» Crime Pays from Joust The Facts
I guess getting caught with $90 grand in the FBI's marked bills in your freezer isn't part of the Culture of Corruption. Jay Tea wants to know what Nancy Pelosi will do. She'll seat him, of course. Mr. Jefferson has [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 1:03 PM

» Crime Pays from Joust The Facts
I guess getting caught with $90 grand in the FBI's marked bills in your freezer isn't part of the Culture of Corruption. Jay Tea wants to know what Nancy Pelosi will do. She'll seat him, of course. Mr. Jefferson has [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 1:07 PM

» Reelecting Cold Hard Cash Jefferson from A Blog For All
The story here is that incumbency provides huge advantages and it doesn't matter how corrupt the politician is. Jefferson was found storing $90,000 in cold cash in his freezer. Federal investigations are racking up plea deals with associates and he's... [Read More]

Tracked on December 10, 2006 7:56 PM