While the 60 gains in the U.S. House of Representatives in yesterday's General Election had been predicted to some degree or other by many respected political pundits, very few-least of all this writer-could have predicted the level of Republican gains in the Tennessee House of Representatives. Republicans gained 14 seats when the votes were counted, moving the Republican majority in the House from one seat to fifteen. Unlike the last General Assembly, House Speaker Kent Williams (I-Elizabethton) will not be able to rely on Democratic votes and his own-or a few Republican crossovers-to keep himself in the Speaker's chair. The Republican Caucus will be able to select the Speaker of their choosing.

 

Such a scenario may boost the chances that current House Republican Caucus Chairman Glen Casada (R-Franklin) could be elected Speaker, since many of the incoming freshmen may feel a sense of loyalty to him for helping to bring them to the Legislature. Nashville Republican Representative and former GOP State Chairwoman Beth Harwell is also being mentioned as a potential choice for the House's top leadership post. If the House Republican Caucus were to choose Casada as Speaker, the positions of House Majority (floor) Leader, Caucus Chairman, and Republican Whip may also come into play-one has to assume that under a Speaker Casada, that current House GOP Whip Debra Maggart (R-Hendersonville) may be interested in the post of Majority Leader or Caucus Chairman, as might Knoxville Rep. Harry Brooks, (should he not win his bid for Speaker) who is currently the Education Committee Chairman, or former House Republican Leader Bill Dunn (R-Knoxville), who now Chairs the powerful House Calendar and Rules Committee. It might also not be beyond veteran Representative Frank Niceley (R-Strawberry Plains) to seek a post in the GOP Leadership. 

 

Last night, this writer was able to attend the Republican victory party with Governor-elect Haslam and many East Tennessee Republicans. It was while there that we were first informed of the potential scale of the Republican landslide in the Tennessee House. The atmosphere in the hallway felt akin to Christmas morning when you open your presents to find that you got exactly what you wanted. The reason for this may be that the kind of numbers that the Republicans have managed to amass in the Tennessee House of Representatives are generational in scale. A 15-seat majority may not seem like much to the novice observer, but in a 99-seat chamber it means that one party holds the allegiance of nearly two-thirds of the body's membership. Numbers like that are similar to what the Democrats had for so many years that allowed them to maintain control for-in biblical terms-a lifetime-and-a-half.