Meet Kent Williams, a Sophomore Republican from Carter County, TN and the new Majority leader of the TN General Assembly. First time in 140 years the Elephant has taken control of the room. The GOP is rejoicing, right?
Uh...nope. You see, the Republicans were all set to elect Rep. Jason Mumpower as their leader. Seems the Dems decided to have a little say in the whole matter. After Mumpower was nominated, the Dems finangled the Republicans into at least letting put forward their own candidate. And they did. In what one local news station describes as the political play of the decade, all 49 Democrats backed Kent Williams, a Sophomore Republican from Carter County, a district just miles from Mumpower's hometown.
During the voice vote on the Speaker's position, the House clerk called every
Democrat first, then every Republican, except Williams. The 49 to 49 split
was then decided by Williams.
Williams accepted the position amid cheers and boos, prompting state troopers to enter the House chambers ready to respond to
an outburst.
Seems like Tennessee Republicans have their very own Joe Lieberman. Enjoy, fellas...
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