WASHINGTON (AFP) — The US Republican Party reeled Wednesday from the indictment of its longest-serving senator, which dealt a fresh blow to its hope of limiting expected large-scale losses in congressional elections.
Senator Ted Stevens, 84, faces charges of failing to report gifts from an oil company, in the latest of a string of scandals to hit the party, already struggling to defend a slew of seats in November's election.
Apparently grim prospects for Republicans have sparked a series of retirements among aged Senate members, and Democrats have high hopes of solidifying their control over both chambers of Congress.
The party has suffered the knock-on impact of President George W. Bush's deep unpopularity, and has yet to recover from losing control of both chambers of Congress nearly two years ago.
National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman John Ensign on Wednesday declined to comment to reporters on the Stevens fallout.
"There is a process in place, we are going to let the process play out, I have no further comment," Ensign said, as Republicans tried to wrest attention back to their attacks on Democrats over an energy crisis.
Stevens has denied the charges and vowed to fight on for reelection in November.
Alaska should be safe Republican territory, but the Stevens indictment has given Democrats new hope in their bid to unseat him and boosted their battle-plan to pile up a 60-seat filibuster-proof majority in the Senate.
Democratic presumptive presidential nominee Barack Obama has also poured resources into the state, in a long-shot bid to wrest it from his Republican rival John McCain, who has yet to comment on the Stevens affair.
Stevens, who has represented Alaska since 1968, faces a Republican primary election on August 26, and opinion polls show him trailing his likely Democratic general election foe Mark Begich.
Currently, both Republicans and Democrats have 49 seats in the 100-seat chamber, and two independents normally caucus with the Democrats, giving the party majority control.
But given that wafer-thin advantage, and Senate rules that sometimes require a 60-seat margin to get major legislation passed, Republicans have been able to frustrate much of the Democratic agenda.
The plight of the Republicans has been complicated by the fact that the party must defend 23 of the 35 seats up for grabs in November, and the Democrats only have 12 to fight, most of which are safe.
Polls show record breaking public contempt for Congress but Democratic leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives take comfort in the fact that they are still favored over Republicans.
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in June found that voters would prefer to see Democrats rather than Republicans in control of Congress after November's elections by 52 to 33 percent.
Stevens was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury on seven counts of making false statements on mandatory financial disclosure forms he filed between 1999 and 2006.
The indictment charges that during that period, Stevens accepted gifts from a company known as VECO, an Alaska-based firm oil field support firm.
Stevens is alleged to have accepted gifts, including material and labor to renovate a residence worth more than 250,000 dollars.
He protested his innocence.
"My public service began when I served in World War II," he said in a statement.
"It saddens me to learn that these charges have been brought against me. I have never knowingly submitted a false disclosure form required by law as a US senator.
"I am innocent of these charges and intend to prove that."
Stevens, one of the powerful Senate Republicans, temporarily relinquished his committee vice chairmanships.
The drama was the latest scandal to hit Republicans ahead of 2008 polls.
Last year, Idaho Senator Larry Craig was arrested in an airport bathroom sting and Louisiana Senator David Vitter apologized after his name appeared on call lists of an Washington escort agency.
Republicans were also rocked by the multi-million dollar patronage scandal surrounding Jack Abramoff, one of the top Republican lobbyists in the heyday of the party's reign in Congress in the 1990s.
Democrats have also had their problems. Last year, Representative William Jefferson was indicted on 16 counts of bribery and corruption.
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