Pa. House could elect a new speaker by the end of the month.

[RandySF]

Last edited Wed Feb 8, 2023, 12:19 PM - Edit history (1)

Rozzi responded to the election night wins by scheduling the chamber to reconvene Feb. 21, but it’s anyone’s guess if he'll still be in charge when it finishes its work. Rozzi was elected speaker a month ago with the support of the entire Democratic caucus as well as 16 Republicans, but members of both parties want him out. One of his most prominent backers was Republican leader Bryan Cutler, who served as speaker from 2020 until last year, but their relationship has deteriorated so much that Rozzi changed the locks on his predecessor’s office suite last week.

Rozzi, who has infuriated Cutler by remaining a registered Democrat despite initially saying he’d lead the state House as an independent, said of the escalation, “It is the speaker’s conference room, speaker’s office space—period. It’s nothing personal, it’s strictly that I need space.” Cutler, though, saw the move as very personal and demanded Rozzi step down. However, it remains to be seen if Cutler would be willing to swap him out for McClinton, whom the Republican clashed with last year when they both insisted they had the authority to schedule the specials to replace Lee and Davis and issued dueling writs of election. The courts ultimately sided with McClinton, which is why those seats were filled Tuesday rather than waiting until May 16, as Cutler wanted.

On the Democratic side, state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta tweeted just two days after Rozzi’s victory that once the specials are resolved, McClinton "will become Speaker Joanna McClinton." McClinton, for her part, hasn’t said if she’d ask Rozzi to step aside, and it’s not clear how much support she’d need to oust him if he doesn’t. The Philadelphia Inquirer explained last month that the chamber has traditionally required a two-thirds vote to recall a speaker, but Spotlight PA wrote this week it would take just a majority of members to remove Rozzi.

The still-speaker himself said last week, “I think that if I can show people I can lead this House, maybe I could stay in this position.” McClinton, when asked Tuesday night about what comes next, responded, “[P]lease stay tuned to see what the will of this body will be on the date that we return to the voting session.”



https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/2/8/2151677/-Morning-Digest-Specials-confirm-Democrats-first-majority-in-Pennsylvania-House-since-2010

[Deminpenn]

1. Rozzi has done his job

correctly. He preserved and protected the House Dem electoral majority until the special elections could be held and decided. If he had to dance around the meaning of "independent", so be it.

[dutch777]

2. Whatever happens Rozzi acted honorably. I am in his district and if he puts "I" next to his name

and continues to act for the good of the people as Speaker I would be okay with that and vote for him again. More "adulting" in the legislative bodies is overdue in PA and obviously elsewhere and someone like Rozzi can lead the way.