The race to be the speaker in the Senate and the Lt. Governor just got a little bit more interesting. Senator Joe Haynes, chairman of the Democratic caucus, has announced that he will be running to gain the coveted position. Although Wilder is believed to be the longest running head of a democratically-elected body in the world, he already has two challengers for his position. This certainly puts Republican Ron Ramsey (from my stomping grounds) in a much better position to gain the title. If the Democratic side is split, that might give him a better chance of winning the vote. In recent years, there has been calls against the Wilder leadership. Some say he is too old to be an effective leader or to be the replacement if anything happens to the Governor. Some have also said that he controls the State Senate with a hard hand by killing hundreds of bills that had majority support. He has also been accused of mishandling the scandals plaguing the General Assembly, especially the Tennessee Waltz scandal. It will certainly be interesting to see how this thing turns out in January. In response to the announcement of Senator Haynes's announcement, Wilder said, "I want the Senate to be the Senate." Looks like that Senate might exclude Wilder. (story
here)
tagged tennessee, politics
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