WASHINGTON -- Convicted Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is remaining a member of the GOP conference in the Senate pending the outcome of his re-election bid.

Stevens critic Jim DeMint, a South Carolina Republican, announced Tuesday he's holding off on a move to expel Stevens from the GOP conference and strip him of plum committee assignments starting in January. He says some of his colleagues want to see whether Stevens wins another term before voting to sanction him.

Stevens is the longest-serving Republican senator ever but was convicted of seven felony counts last month. Stevens may very well not return to Washington anyway as he's fallen behind in an ongoing vote tally for a his re-election bid against Democratic opponent Mark Begich.