Colorado state Sen. Randy Baumgardner survived a Democratic push Monday to expel him from office for sexual harassment, with one of his Republican colleagues calling it "a public lynching."

The Senate voted 17-17 in a near party-line vote against a resolution to expel the Republican from northwestern Colorado after three hours of debate, in which Democrats suggested the inaction sent a devastating message to victims.

"People are watching. And if we continue to do nothing, if we continue down the path of inaction, it just further engrains that this is normal behavior — that it's the cost of doing business," said Sen. Steve Fenberg, D-Boulder.

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