We start, however, with a juicy bit of schadenfreude from primary night. Turns out Val didn’t see her defeat at the hands of Kamela Smith (!) coming. She and her political team are in her basement adding up the totals while, upstairs, a joyous victory celebration is taking place. Because the celebrants don’t see it coming either. Val and her people realize that they have lost. Rather than going upstairs to address her supporters, Val has one of her political team go upstairs and, wait for it, throw everybody out of the house. Classy until the very end. Oh, the source(s)? People who got thrown out of the party.
Never let it be said, however, that defeat has caused Val to reflect on how to best live the rest of her life. She instead, has tried to exact retribution on someone she now regards as a turncoat by pushing for, wait for it, ‘Sellout’ Kerri Harris to succeed her as Speaker, presumably in exchange for a guarantee from Kerri that the money spigot to the Police Athletic League will continue to flow. She thinks that Mimi Minor-Brown was a stealth supporter of Kam. All I can say is that, in all the times I was down there and knocking doors and being involved with Kam’s campaign, I never heard even a whisper about that. Oh, and also that, if Kerri ‘runs’ as hard for Speaker as she ‘ran’ for Congress, she has no chance.
Anyway, both Kerri and Mimi are running.
I am told, however, that there is a third candidate, someone with ties to both moderate and progressive elements in the caucus. I can’t say for sure who it is, but I’m also told that, from a personality perspective, this person would be the Anti-Val as Speaker. Someone who would help to restore a collegial environment in the House. Based on that, give me Door #3.
More to come if/when people’s lips loosen.