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Welcome to the Wednesday, January 9 Brew. Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Larry Householder (R) elected speaker of the Ohio House, defeating sitting Speaker Ryan Smith (R)
- Chicago Ald. Ed Burke charged with extortion, challengers and mayoral candidates weigh in
- Two state legislators have been in office since the 1960s - reviewing the data around new legislators being sworn-in
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Larry Householder (R) elected speaker of the Ohio House, defeating sitting Speaker Ryan Smith (R)
Rep. Larry Householder (R) was elected as speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives on Monday by a coalition of 26 Republicans and 26 Democrats. Thirty-four Republicans, who hold a 61-38 majority in the chamber, voted for sitting House Speaker Ryan Smith (R). No Democrat ran for the position.
In the May 2018 Republican primaries, Smith and Householder supported opposing candidates in 20 races. Householder-backed candidates won 15, Smith-backed candidates won 3, and candidates affiliated with neither won two.
In June 2018, Smith was elected as the interim speaker after Republican Cliff Rosenberger resigned early due to an FBI investigation into his activities with lobbyists. Householder-aligned Republicans opposed Smith’s speakership bid, which he won with 44 votes in a four-way race with Democratic Leader Fred Strahorn and two other Republicans.
This will be Householder’s second stint as speaker, following a term from 2001 to 2004. .
Most states elect the chamber leader via either a caucus vote, or a vote of the full membership of the legislative body. Typically, this means that the governing party elects leadership in a unanimous - or near-unanimous - ballot. Householder is one of six state speakers elected with support from only a minority of the majority party since 1995.
Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus (R) was elected speaker in 2009 after the Republican majority fell to 76-74 in the 2008 elections. He unseated sitting speaker Tom Craddick (R) with support from 72 Democrats and 16 Republicans.
Similarly, California Assembly Democrats helped elect two Republican speakers in 1995 after Republicans won a 41-39 majority in the 1994 elections. The speakers were both opposed by a majority of the Republican caucus.
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Chicago Ald. Ed Burke charged with extortion, challengers and mayoral candidates weigh in
Last week, Chicago City Councilmember Ed Burke was charged with extortion. Burke has represented Chicago's 14th Ward since 1969 and is the longest-serving alderman in the city's history.
The FBI filed a complaint in the U.S. Northern District of Illinois court alleging that Burke attempted to use his position as alderman to solicit business for his law firm, Klaner & Burke, from a restaurant owner who was seeking permits for remodeling in 2017.
The complaint also claims that Burke illegally sought a donation for another politician from an executive of the company. The charges came after the FBI conducted two raids of Burke's offices, first on November 29 and again on December 13.
Burke said of the charge, "I believe that I’m not guilty of anything, and I’m trusting that when I have my day in court, that will be clear beyond a reasonable doubt."
On Monday, Burke stepped down from his position as chairman of the City Council Finance Committee. He announced that he intends to continue his re-election bid, in which he faces four challengers—Irene Corral, Jaime Guzman, Tanya Patino, and Jose Torrez.
Patino called on Burke to withdraw from the race, saying, "It's an embarrassment to know that your alderman is doing things for his own personal gain instead of the community's interest."
A representative of Jose Torrez said, "We are running on a platform of transparency so we're not going to allow this to ever have to be an issue in the 14th Ward again."
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Seven states swear-in legislators today
With a new year, comes a new batch of state legislators. Thousands of legislators will be sworn-into office this month. In the November 2018 general elections, 322 incumbent legislators were defeated. Including the incumbents who retired or were defeated in primaries, the 2019 legislative sessions will see 1,599 new state legislators taking their oath of office. The new legislators reflect 21.7 percent of all state legislators nationwide.
Today, seven states are swearing-in legislators.
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Maryland
- Missouri
- Nebraska
- New York
- Vermont
Three fun facts about state legislators being sworn-in this term.
- Fifteen states have term limits, accounting for 1,930 of all state legislative seats (26.1%).
- Two legislators have been in office since the 1960s. The longest-serving state representative, Republican Tom Craddick, began his tenure in 1969. This is his 50th year in the Texas State Legislature. He is one of two state legislators elected in the 1960s. The other is Fred Risser, Democratic state senator from Wisconsin.
- More than 15 percent of state legislators were elected before the year 2000:
- 1960s: 2 (<0.1%)
- 1970s: 41 (<0.1%)
- 1980s: 101 (1.3%)
- 1990s: 984 (13.3%)
The remaining 7,383 legislators (84.7%) were all elected in the 21st century.
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