Senator Gary Simpson has been reelected by his Republican colleagues to continue as Senate Minority Leader. I am somewhat surprised that Lavelle did not grab the job to position himself for the 2016 Gubernatorial race. Yes, it would have been audacious for a newly elected freshman Senator to become Minority Leader, but not out of the realm of impossibility, since, after all, Lavelle did get elected as the Minority Whip, the second highest position in the Senate caucus. I think what we will see in Simpson stepping down after down the 2014 elections after six years in the leadership role to pass the mantle over to Lavelle.
Over in the House, we have a brand new House Minority Leader in Danny Short. Meanwhile, my own representative, Deborah Capano Hudson, was elected as the House Minority Whip. So I guess when I run against her in 2014, it will be an important race.
Last week, the Dems in the House gave Pete Schwartzkopf a promotion to Speaker, and elected Valerie Longhust as the new majority leader and John Viola as the new majority whip. Over in the Senate, Patti Blevins was selected President Pro Tempore, and David McBride will become Majority Leader. Progressive champion Karen Peterson had considered challenging Blevins, but the two (Blevins and Peterson) met and worked out their issues. I am curious as to what Blevins promised Peterson.