North Dakota's longest-serving state senator says he'll resign following a report that he had traded scores of text messages with a man jailed on child pornography charges.
Republican Ray Holmberg already had stepped down as head of a powerful panel that oversees the Legislature's business between sessions after a published report that he had exchanged scores of text messages with a man jailed on child pornography charges. Holmberg's resignation is effective June 1.
He had risen to become one of the state's most powerful lawmakers in a career that spanned 46 years.
79-year-old Holmberg released a statement that said, “Recent news stories have become a distraction for the important work of the legislative assembly during its interim meetings,” he said. “I want to do what I can, within my power, to lessen such distractions.”