#NCGA: GOP caucus sources say list of serious contenders for next House speaker down to THREE
I had the chance this week to check in with three of my better moles within the House GOP caucus on Jones Street. (Thanks to the culture of intimidation that dominates the legislative building, I am honoring their requests for anonymity.)
All three told me that the three names to keep an eye on in the race to succeed Thom Tillis in the speaker’s chair is really between three people: Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain), Mike Hager (R-Burke, Rutherford counties), and Leo Daughtry (R-Smithfield).
Conspicuously missing: majority leader Edgar Starnes and speaker pro tem Paul “Skip” Stam.
Said House Republican Source A:
”Edgar is a good guy and a hard worker. I think the world of him. But look — he has a hard time keeping Julia Howard in line. If he can’t handle her, how is he going to fare against the governor’s team and the pit bulls in the Senate when the rubber hits the road?”
Said House Republican B:
“Skip’s problem is that people have figured him out. He is not a conservative. He’s fine with government and the bureaucracy. He’s got a lot of appeal with the church crowd — so he might be able to keep his current post. But he can’t pull together the votes in this caucus to be elected speaker.”
Frankly, I was surprised to see Daughtry’s name in the list. Daughtry has been hanging around for a while. He got elected minority leader and tried to unsuccessfully to be elected speaker in 2002 — which led to the defection of Richard Morgan and five friends and the establishment of the infamous “power-sharing deal.
Said House Republican C:
“Leo has been flying below radar, but he’s been doing some real good work to help himself. He’s been around a while and knows the lay of the land a whole lot better than the other two.”
Tim Moore made news in early 2012 by accepting federal and state economic development money to renovate his Cleveland County law office. At the time, there was a lot of talk about how tight things were financially for the state and how budget cuts were needed.
In 2013, Hager made news for his bill to end renewable energy mandates. It died in committee.
If Hager is elected speaker, we would have a situation where TWO former Duke Power employees (Gov. Pat being the other) holding two of the top three posts in state government.
The State Senate–not the House, not the Governor–knows what to do to keep NC on a strong, conservative path. Without the Senate, Republicans would be in total disarray.
Hager’s work on the renewable energy mandate makes him appealing from a policy perspective.
The important thing, however, is to wean the House leadership away from the Liston Ramsey / Marc Basnight manner in which Tillis has run things. The House leadership does not need to be a one man show.
I expected to see Tim Moffitt mentioned here.
I’d love to see Mike Speciale and Larry Pittman step up to these roles. They’re the real conservative options.
I agree that either of these two would be great. Speciale and Hager are tied for most conservative member of the NC House in the new Civitas Conservative Effectiveness Rating, both at B+ (no A’s in the House). All the contenders mentioned are B or B+, which is a heck of a lot better that last time when both Tillis and Stam had D and F ratings from Civitas.
Tillis is not ranked this time, since as Speaker he does not vote, but Stam is again an F from Civitas. Good thing he is not in contention.