More Leadership Battles

by Karl Kurtz

The Pennsylvania House is not the only chamber with a complicated leadership fight. 

In the Oklahoma Senate Democrats and Republicans are tied with 24 members each.  Because the Lt. Governor, Jari Askins, is a Democrat and votes in case of ties, the Democrats have a slight edge.  Soon after the election Democrats and Republicans worked out a power sharing agreement, which was ratified by the Senate when it convened earlier this week.  Democratic Sen. Mike Morgan will serve as President Pro Tem, and Republican Sen. Glenn Coffee as Co-President Pro Tem for 23 of the next 24 months.  In a symbolic move, the two will switch positions for the month of July 2007.  The two pro tems will alternate days in presiding over the Senate.  Both parties have elected floor leaders--the party opposite of the pro tem who is in the chair on any given day will have the floor leader position that day--and the committees have co-chairs.

Meanwhile, leadership battles are brewing in three other states with the possibility of coalitions in two of them.  All three of these won't be resolved until next week.  In Tennessee Sen. John Wilder, Democrat, is attempting to maintain the coalition that elected him Lt. Governor during the last biennium despite a 17-16 Republican majority.  The margin remains the same in the Senate after the 2006 elections.  In a complicated scenario described by the Knoxville News Sentinel involving a Democratic senator who is under indictment and a Republican who is likely to vote for Wilder, there's a possibility that Wilder will continue as Lt. Governor under a tie vote of 16-16 because it takes 17 votes to replace him.

In the Alabama Senate, "Seven of the 35-member Senate's 23 Democrats and each of its 12 Republicans have announced plans to band together to back Jim Preuitt, D-Talladega, as the Senate president pro tem when the Senate meets Tuesday to choose its leaders and adopt operating rules for the next four years," according to a story in the Birmingham News.

In the Texas House, there's a battle within the majority Republican party between incumbent Speaker Tom Craddick and a challenger, Rep. Jim Pitts, who has been serving as chair of the appropriations committee.  Both legislators are conservatives, and the conflict appears to be mostly over leadership styles.  Both sides claim to have enough votes to win. 

We'll report on the outcomes of these races next week.