Ted Stevens, the longest serving Republican in the history of the U.S. Senate, was convicted today by a Washington, D.C., jury on seven counts of violating ethics laws for failing to report gifts he was given by friends.

The conviction is another bad omen for the GOP, coming so close to the Nov. 4 general election. Stevens’ conviction makes all the more doubtful his re-election as the GOP nationally attempts to head off what is starting to look like what may be a rout on Election Day. And some see the race for Stevens’ Senate seat as potentially being the key to the 60-vote margin Democrats are hoping for.

The New York Times has details on Stevens’ verdict. It reports:

A federal jury of eight women and four men from the District of Columbia found that the 84-year-old Mr. Stevens, who has represented Alaska in the Senate for more than 40 years, knowingly failed to list on Senate disclosure forms the receipt of several gifts and tens of thousands of dollars worth of remodeling work on his home in Girdwood, Alaska.

The verdict came just eight days before the senator is to face re-election and after more than three weeks of testimony, the highlight of which was Mr. Stevens making the calculated risk of taking the witness stand in his own defense. As the verdict was announced, the senator remained composed and stared at the ceiling while his lawyer, Brendan Sullivan, put his arm around him.

Mr. Stevens has long been tied to the rough-and-tumble history of his home state and wields outsized influence over federal spending. Government prosecutors used evidence and testimony to paint a picture in which several of Mr. Stevens’s wealthy Alaskan friends, keenly aware of his status as the dominant political figure in the state, were eager to shower him with gifts.

Stevens is locked in a close re-election race with Democrat Mark Begich, the popular mayor of Anchorage. Polls have shown Begich narrowly ahead of Stevens — a first in a state that has not sent a Democrat to Congress since Sen. Mike Gravel’s term ended in 1981. The Alaska Democratic Party has called for Stevens to step down.

Whether Stevens’ conviction clears the way for a Begich victory remains to be seen, but by any measure it’s a new day in Alaska. A four-year federal corruption investigation has put three former Republican state legislators in prison and two others are awaiting trial. Five Alaska businessmen or former Republican state officials have pleaded guilty to their parts in various corruption schemes and are working with government investigators.

And the political turmoil on the Last Frontier may not be over. The FBI continues to investigate the state’s lone congressman, Republican Rep. Don Young.