Good riddance to Tom DeLay.

After Texas Republican DeLay announced his resignation from U.S. House of Representatives this week, the public should be breathing a sigh of relief that this corrupt and entirely unethical official’s time in office is over.

Throughout the years, DeLay participated in a slue of misdeeds that increased his power within the Republican Party and led to unpopularity with the public.

Among these were seedy financial ties with corrupt lobbyist Jack Abramoff and his involvement in the 1995 “K Street Project,” which attempted to exert Republican Party influence over lobbying firms. After the 2000 census, DeLay formed a political action committee to coordinate the redrawing of congressional district line lines in Texas, essentially undermining Democrats’ right to vote in those areas.

In September, a grand jury indicted Delay for conspiring to illegally finance Republicans in the 2002 Texas state elections. The grand jury’s decision forced DeLay to step down from his position as majority leader.

DeLay’s long string of misconduct made him a liability for the Republican Party. With midterm elections approaching, no Republican wants to be associated with the “culture of corruption” of which DeLay is the poster boy.

But even now, DeLay seems to be ignoring his numerous and grave lapses in ethical judgment, accusing Democrats of waging a “negative, personal campaign” to remove him from office and replace him with a Democrat.

Unfortunately, there is no doubt that we haven’t heard the last of Tom DeLay, either as a future lobbyist or in court decisions regarding his pending indictments. His political web of allies remains strong and far-reaching.

As the sun sets on this very corporal example of corruption in our government, officials on Capitol Hill need to continue to seek out and eradicate corruption at all levels of government.

But no politician will take action unless there is pressure from his or her constituents. The voting public must not turn a blind eye to the misdeeds of their representatives. The people must remain diligent in exposing crooked politicians like Tom DeLay.