Richardson 75, Ralston 25

Click here to see the play by play as recorded live in our blog.

By Dick Pettys
InsiderAdvantage Georgia

(11/11/08) House Speaker Glenn Richardson easily put down a challenge for the gavel from within his own Republican Caucus Monday, fending off Rep. David Ralston on a 75-25 vote. But Ralston left it unclear following the vote whether he will continue the battle into January and attempt to win the top House prize with the help of minority Democrats.

Monday’s vote was only a nomination by Republicans, who hold 105 of the 180 seats in the upcoming session. The final election will be on the first day of the session, when Democrats also will be permitted to vote.

“I’m tired. I’m going home. I’m not ruling anything in or out,” Ralston said at the conclusion of a round of elections in which Speaker Pro-Tem Mark Burkhalter won his party’s re-nomination without opposition but Majority Leader Jerry Keen found himself challenged by dissidents. Like Richardson, however, Keen also won.

Back in July, Ralston had said there would be no continuation of the fight if he lost in the Caucus, telling InsiderAdvantage: "If a majority of the Republican Caucus chooses not to make a change, then, because of my belief that as long as there is a Republican majority the Speaker should be supported by a majority of the Republican Caucus, my plan would not be to take a (Republican) minority and go team up with the other party.”

Asked about his previous comment, Ralston said Monday: “I said I would ‘prefer’ a Republican House led by a Republican Speaker having a majority of support.”

“We ran a tough, hard race. I’m grateful for the level of support we had. Obviously, you don’t like losing but I don’t think we lost today. I think we’ve sent a very, very strong message and we’ll kind of look at things down the road.”

Click here for the sound file.

Richardson was elected in 2004 as the first Republican Speaker of the Georgia House since 1870. This was his first challenge for the gavel.

Democrat Tom Murphy, who held the gavel longer than anyone else, faced down two challenges from within his own party, the most recent in 1992 when he stomped Rep. DuBose Porter 102-25.

Richardson’s strong temper and iron fist were issues for dissidents in the race.

In his speech to the Caucus, Ralston said: “I believe that effective leadership must show respect, it must be temperate and it should always seek, if at all possible, the most positive outcome for everyone involved. I believe that the best leaders are those who are secure enough within themselves to not feel challenged or threatened by disagreement or by different points of view, but to seek those out. I believe that strong and effective leadership requires firmness and it requires discipline but it should always be tempered with compassion, respect and openness. I don’t believe that good leadership is grounded in fear or intimidation or threat of retribution. But I believe that good leadership boldly follows what we are encouraged by the Prophet Isaiah to do when he wrote, ‘Come, let us reason together.”

In his speech, Richardson took a long look back at how Republicans were able to gain a majority in the House - a step in which he played a key role. He talked about his campaign efforts on behalf of Republicans then and now, as well as about the fight Republicans faced in 2001 to resist a Democrat-led redistricting effort that might well have cemented Democrats in power for the decade.

“When I first became Speaker there was no handbook and I will be the first to tell you I have made mistakes along the way. But I've learned ...,” he said.

And the tough-talking Speaker, who has famously aimed jibes at both Gov. Sonny Perdue and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, said he’s learned “Just because you think it, you don’t have to say it.”

Some of the dissidents included people Richardson punished last year for voting against his wishes in a bid to dump then-DOT Chairman Mike Evans from the Transportation Board, whose members are chosen by legislators. Evans had previously sided with the governor’s pick for DOT commissioner. Richardson was backing Rep. Vance Smith.

Tom Graves, who ran unsuccessfully against Jerry Keen for the majority leader’s post, was one of those who were punished. Graves was removed from his position as a House “hawk” and saw his Capitol office taken away from him.

Asked after the vote if there would be reprisals, Richardson said: “Right now we’re going to focus on getting the agenda ready for this session, the budget and the many issues that we have. And appointments and all that process will begin in January, and we’ll look at all the factors as to who the best qualified people are for the jobs.”

In the Murphy era, challengers and some of their backers were often dispatched to Siberia for a period, but after paying a suitable penalty for several years were brought back into the fold. Al Burruss, an early Murphy challenger, was eventually brought back in and became majority leader before his death. Porter also was brought back in.

If Ralston does continue the fight into the opening of the legislative session, he probably could be assured of all of the 75 Democratic votes. He then would need 16 Republicans to cross over to hit the magic number of 91.

But that’s not an easy task.

In 2003, with the House still in Democratic hands but Speaker Murphy a victim of changing demographics in his district, Larry Walker attempted with the help of newly-elected Gov. Perdue to piece together a bipartisan coalition for the speakership but couldn’t peel off enough Democratic votes.

In the Keen-Graves race, Graves raised the question of whether Keen would be distracted by his 2010 for the governorship. Keen said he would not.

Keen said he had made no formal decision at this point. “That decision will be made at the end of the session. I will not be distracted, I will not lose focus ... If I decide to seek another office or higher office, I will immediately tell you, I will immediately step down from this position and give someone else the chance to lead you..."

Keen won 70-30.

In the only other contested race, Jan Jones beat Greg Morris for the whip’s job. She will replace Barry Fleming, who ran unsuccessfully for Congress this year.