This is what happens when you’re in class all day and away from Internet access.
Here’s the first post from Kleinheider, and you can clearly see that there’s been more reactions to this story than any other. Ever. In the history of the Internet.
Jimmy Naifeh declares the 50-49 vote official and calls for the swearing in of Rep. Kent Williams as Speaker of the House.
The assembled crowd in the legislature’s gallery were there to see the historic elevation of an elected Republican to the office of Speaker of the House.
Sean Braisted is unapologetically celebrating today.
I have no real analysis or much else to add to the story that’s been dominating Tennessee while I’ve been concerned with Victorian England and international trade. Still, since many of our readers are likely to not know the details of TN politics (due to either being outside the state or being inside the confines of Vandy’s campus), I figured I’d try to best summarize the situation, after the jump.
Okay, here goes. So the Republicans barely won control of the TN House for the first time in 40-odd years last November, having 50 members compared to 49 Democrats. Rep. Jason Mumpower of Bristol was the presumptive nominee for Speaker of the House, the top position in the TN House. He won the vote of his GOP colleagues in their caucus, and, since Republicans were in the majority (SotH is a house-wide election), it would be assumed that Mumpower would become Speaker, barring no Republicans defected.
Well, defect they did. Or at least one. And it wasn’t for a Democrat. GOP Rep. Kent Williams of Elizabethon, first elected in 2006 to the House, was nominated today by Democrat Gary Odom for the Speaker job. And then every single Democrat voted for Williams. And Williams voted for himself. That made 50 votes for Williams and 49 loyal Republican votes for Mumpower. And so it goes.
What makes things more complicated is the fact that Williams and the other House Republican Caucus members signed a pledge that they would all vote for a Republican for Speaker. Williams didn’t break the pledge, he just didn’t vote for the same Republican as his fellow caucus members. Sneaky, sneaky. Williams also voted for Democrat Rep. Lois DeBerry of Memphis for Speaker Pro Tempore, clinching her reelection to the number two spot and effectively giving control right back to the Democrats. This also meant Williams broke the second part of the pledge. Hell of a first day for the 106th General Assembly.
Naturally, every Tennessee Republican is furious. GOP Chair Robin Smith, Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam, U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, and an anonymous taxpayer are all venting in one way or another. Perhaps you are all up to speed and I can stop stealing from Kleinheider (who has covered the spectacle marvelously).
For what it’s worth, I think it’s pretty low what Williams did to his Republican colleagues. I think what we saw today is one example of what happens when Republicans win elections: they inevitably roll over (or in this case, just one) and allow the Democrats to stay in charge, either procedurally or by their own actions. So much for a GOP-controlled agenda from the Assembly.
ETA: Now the story’s getting some national attention.
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