by Karl Kurtz
The coalition formed in the New York Senate yesterday is so reminiscent of the California Assembly in 1995 that it led me to reconstruct the California history. It's a fascinating story of political reward and punishment, even 14 years later. Here is a short chronology, taken primarily from a summary in Alan Rosenthal's, The Decline of Representative Democracy:
After the November 1994 elections, the Republicans hold a 41-39 majority over the Democrats. But one of the Republican Assembly members, Richard Mountjoy, is also elected to the Senate in a special election held on the same day. In an organizing session in December, the initial vote for speaker is 40-40 between 14-year incumbent Speaker Willie Brown (photo) and the previous minority leader, Jim Brulte, because one Republican, Paul Horcher, votes with the Democrats. With Brown in the chair—not as speaker but as senior member of the Assembly—the Assembly votes 40-39 not to allow Mountjoy to vote in the Assembly because he is now a member of the Senate. Mountjoy is not allowed to vote on this motion. Brown is then elected speaker on another 40-39 vote. Horcher gets a committee chairmanship.
- Outraged Republicans boycott the sessions, thereby denying a quorum of 41 votes and preventing any business from being done. They mount a recall campaign against Horcher. The recall campaign is successful and Horcher is replaced by another Republican (under California recall rules, a successor is on the ballot and automatically elected if the recall prevails).
- In June 1995 Brown steps down as speaker, but organizes the Democrats to elect another renegade Republican, Doris Allen, as speaker on a 40-39 vote. Allen was smarting because her Republican colleagues had opposed her in a primary election for a state Senate seat, which she had lost. After Allen is elected speaker, Brown becomes minority leader and takes over Brulte's office. Brulte is assigned to Horcher's old office.
- In September 1995, Allen steps down as speaker because of the pressure, but the Democrats elect still another dissident Republican, Brian Sentencich, as speaker on a 41-39 vote—the 39 Democrats plus Allen and Sentencich.
In November 1995 Allen is recalled. In December 1995, Brown is elected mayor of San Francisco and resigns his Assembly seat. Republicans finally elect one of their own, Curt Pringle (photo), to be speaker in January 1996. He serves for one year until Democrats retake control of the Assembly in the November 1996 election. In June 1996 Sentencich loses a Republican primary for reelection to the Assembly.
Photo credit: Willie Brown by Rich Pedroncelli in James Richardson, "Willie Brown: The Members' Speaker."
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