Newly elected lawmakers across the country barely had time to savor victory before getting down to the work of selecting leaders for the upcoming session. Below are a variety of reports from the past several days offering a snapshot of the frenetic pace in statehouses in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Alaska
Legislature looks familiar, but key changes raise uncertainty: Business groups are trying to read the tealeaves, trying to determine what will be the key issues in the Legislature's organization for the 2011 session. The outlook is murky. Alaska Journal of Commerce
Arkansas
Arkansas Senate preps for 2011; Sen. Whitaker elected minority leader: Arkansas Sen. Paul Bookout, D-Jonesboro, will be the new Senate President. Democrats selected Sen. Robert Thompson of Paragould as Majority Leader. Sen. Joyce Elliott of Little Rock will serve as Majority Whip. Sen. Ruth Whitaker, R-Cedarville, will be Senate Minority Leader. The City Wire
Florida
Roy Dean Cannon Jr. elected Speaker of the 85th Florida House of Representatives. Florida politics blog: The Buzz
Meet the new Senate president: Mike Haridopolos: The Senate today elected Sen. Mike Haridoplos as the new Senate president. The Merritt Island Republican is the 84th Senate president since statehood. Florida politics blog: The Buzz
Georgia
Abrams elected as House minority leader: Word is that the House Democrats have elected Stacey Abrams as their new majority leader. Peach Pundit
Indiana
Ceremony shifts full power to Statehouse Republicans: Lawmakers returned to the Indiana Statehouse today for their one-day organizational meeting, the precursor to the session that will begin in January. IndyStar.com
House speaker Bosma eyes Dems for panel chairs: Newly-elected House Speaker Brian Bosma said today that he wants a new spirit of bipartisanship in the Indiana House, and backed that up by saying he intended to appoint two Democrats as committee chairmen. IndyStar.com
Iowa
Senate Democrats keep their top leaders: Democrats in the Iowa Senate on Sunday chose to keep Sen. Mike Gronstal as their majority leader. Des Moines Register
Maine
Maine House Democrats choose leaders: Now a minority in Maine's House of Representatives for the first time in three decades, Democrats today chose their key state budget negotiator as their floor leader for the upcoming two-year session, while promising to return in two years as a majority once again. Kennebec Journal
Minnesota
Koch will become first female Senate majority leader in state’s history: The state Senate GOP made history by electing a woman for the first time as majority leader. They also elected the Senate’s first woman president. Politics in Minnesota
A new crop of leaders at the Capitol: In announcing their committee chairs Wednesday, the new Republican leadership at the Minnesota Legislature instantly elevated some lawmakers to prominence—Rep. Mary Liz Holberg, R-Lakeville, a 12-year House veteran, will chair the influential House Ways and Means Committee. Minneapolis Star Tribune
Montana
GOP picks its 2011 legislative leaders: Triumphant Republican legislators on Wednesday picked a pair of soft-spoken farmer-ranchers from central Montana as their top leaders for the 2011 Legislature, electing Rep. Mike Milburn of Cascade as House speaker and Sen. Jim Peterson of Buffalo as Senate president. Helena Independent Record
New Hampshire
Republicans pick O'Brien as next House speaker: Mont Vernon Republican Bill O'Brien will likely be the next House speaker. O'Brien garnered 142 votes to win the nomination from the Republican caucus. The full House will formally elect the speaker on Dec. 1. Concord Monitor
North Carolina
N.C. Senate Republicans choose leaders: As expected, state Sen. Phil Berger of Rockingham County was chosen by Senate Republicans Thursday as the Senate president pro tempore for the coming legislative session, Gary Robertson of The Associated Press reported. Wilmington Star News
North Dakota
Taylor chosen as leader for North Dakota Senate Democrats: Towner Sen. Ryan Taylor, mentioned by some North Dakota Democrats as a 2012 candidate for governor, was elected Wednesday as the state Senate’s new minority leader. Inforum
Ohio
House Democrats stick with Budish as leader: Despite a rough election that saw his House Democrats lose at least a dozen seats and control of the chamber, Ohio Speaker Armond Budish survived a leadership challenge from the liberal wing of his caucus, led by Rep. Ted Celeste of Grandview Heights. The Columbus Dispatch
Oklahoma
Sullivan tapped state House majority floor leader: House Speaker-elect Kris Steele on Thursday tapped Rep. Dan Sullivan to be the majority floor leader. Tulsa World
Oregon
Oregon Senate Democrats elect leadership team: Meeting at the Oregon Coast on Friday, Senate Democrats re-elected Sen. Peter Courtney, D-Salem, as Senate president along with the rest of their leadership team. OregonLive.com
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania political power shifts west: The balance of power at the state Capitol that for decades tilted toward Philadelphia now largely lies in the hands of Western Pennsylvania lawmakers. Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
South Carolina
Harrell easily re-elected S.C. House speaker: S.C. House Speaker Bobby Harrell received a big vote of confidence Wednesday as House members overwhelmingly re-elected him to another term as the House's leader. The State
South Dakota
Legislative leadership to take West River flavor: After a session in which all of the top leaders in the Legislature came from east of the Missouri, the 2011 session will feature Rapid City legislators in three of the top seven Republican leadership spots. Rapid City Journal
Tennessee
Beth Harwell moves closer to being first woman to win TN House speaker job: Nashville Rep. Beth Harwell is on track to become the first woman to serve as speaker of the Tennessee House of Representatives after winning the Republican nomination Thursday over the objections of tea party and gun rights activists. Tennessean
See NCSL's Unofficial State Legislative Leaders for the 2011 Session for a more complete list of leaders that have been named so far.
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