CARSON CITY, Nev. — The state Senate’s Democratic leader tearfully announced his resignation Tuesday after saying he took campaign funds for personal use.
“Due to mistakes I have made, I will be vacating my seat immediately,” Kelvin Atkinson said Tuesday on the floor of the Senate. “Regretfully, it has been discovered I have used campaign funds for personal use. Thus I will be taking responsibility for that. I will be pleading guilty for those actions when the time comes.”
Atkinson did not offer details about the charges, which he indicated resulted from a federal investigation.
“In this most difficult of circumstances, I have been treated respectfully by the prosecutors and investigators and I have no one to blame but myself,” he said.
Court documents were not immediately available and it wasn’t clear when his plea will take place. Atkinson’s attorney, Richard Wright, did not immediately respond to messages.
Neither the FBI in Las Vegas nor the U.S. Attorney for Nevada commented about Atkinson, spokeswomen said.
Top Republicans in the Legislature seized on Atkinson’s announcement to call for a full corruption probe.
Minority Leader James Settelmeyer said he’s pleased the federal government is in charge of the investigation. State level investigations, he said, sometimes ted to have “swept things under the rug, in my opinion.”
“I wish him and his family well,” he said.
Assembly Minority Leader Jim Wheeler called Atkinson’s admissions “more than troubling.”
Democratic Gov. Steve Sisolak said in a statement he was “extremely disappointed” about the developments.
“This admitted violation of the law goes against the integrity every elected officer in the state of Nevada should uphold. By doing so, he betrayed the trust of the public, and therefore should be held accountable,” Sisolak said.
Atkinson was first elected to the Assembly in 2002 and elected the state Senate in 2012. He was the first black, openly gay member of the Legislature when he came out in 2013 during a debate in the Senate on same-sex marriage.
Atkinson was named majority leader last November.
The secretary of state’s office, which oversees state campaign finance reporting, declined to comment, said spokeswoman Jennifer Russell.
Cheryl Bruce, executive director of the Nevada Senate Democratic caucus, said in a statement that Assistant Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro will become the acting leader.
Bruce said Democrats were “saddened and disappointed” to learn about the circumstances of Atkinson’s resignation and said it was appropriate that he step down.
“The charges levied against him are serious, and allege conduct that we strongly condemn,” Bruce said.
Cannizzaro declined to comment Tuesday.
The allegations and news of Atkinson’s resignation were first reported by the Nevada Independent on Tuesday.
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Associated Press writers Michelle L. Price and Ken Ritter in Las Vegas and Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada contributed to this report.
