Tag: House Republican Caucus

State Representative Derek Merrin Elected to Lead Ohio House Republican Caucus

Hannah Poling

On Tuesday, state Representative Derek Merrin (R-Monclova) was chosen by the majority of GOP members to serve as the formal chairman of the House Republican Caucus and Vice-Chair of its campaign arm, giving him authority over the group’s spending.

Usually, the majority caucus chair would be the same person chosen to lead the 99-member House, but state Representative Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) was controversially elected as Speaker to succeed state Representative Bob Cupp (R-Lima). The choice came despite the Republican Caucus‘ previous selection in November of Merrin as the new Speaker. Although the GOP caucus voted for Merrin as Speaker of the House in December, Stephen fought in collaboration with the Democrats to collect votes and garner a win.

Read the full story

Rep. Carter Promises House Chairs to Retain Them and Not Retaliate if Elected Speaker

Jason M. Reynolds

  State Rep. Mike Carter (R-TN-29) of Ooltewah reportedly wrote to all House chairmen and vice chairmen in his bid to become the next Speaker, multiple media outlets report. Carter promises fair treatment to all members without retribution, according to the Chattanooga Times Free Press. A meeting of the Tennessee House Republican Caucus has been scheduled for Wednesday, July 24, to select a Republican nominee for Speaker of the House to replace Rep. Glen Casada (R-TN-63) of Franklin in the position, The Tennessee Star reported. The next day, Gov. Bill Lee called for a special session of the Legislature to be held on Friday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. to vote for the replacement. In his letter, Carter told the chairmen and vice chairs they would keep their positions, the Times Free Press said. Carter did not return a phone call from The Star regarding the letter. According to a story by the Tennessee Journal: On the Hill, Carter told the chairmen: My request to serve you as Speaker is not about me, it’ s about you. I promise to use the Speaker’s office to promote each of you as the “Elected Official” in your district. This will begin with…

Read the full story

House Speaker Glen Casada Starts Discussions With Republicans on Date He Will Resign

Jason M. Reynolds

  Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada is holding discussions with Republican lawmakers on when he will resign, now that he has returned from a vacation in Europe, WKRN reported. The station quoted Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden as saying Monday that Casada would “meet with the leadership team and those discussions are going to start today.” However, some Republicans are voicing frustration that his talks are going through the end of this week and he has refused to set an actual date to step down, NewsChannel 5 said. State Rep. Casada (R-Franklin) said in late May he would resign as speaker after House Republicans voted “no confidence” by a margin of 45-24, The Tennessee Star reported. Another question looming before the House is who will fill Casada’s shoes. Steve Gill, Political Editor of The Star, said, “Once speaker Casada announces the timetable for his departure, the fight to replace him will begin in earnest. So far, there has been some positioning and preparation but it will be full on Game of Thrones soon.” “Some potential candidates may ultimately decide to wait for another shot, not because they don’t want to be Speaker but because they make the calculation that…

Read the full story

State House Republican Leader William Lamberth Will Not Run for Speaker

Laura Baigert

  As the chief officer of the Republican Party in the House, Majority Leader William Lamberth (R-Portland) told The Tennessee Star that he will not run for the role of Speaker after Glen Casada (R-Franklin) steps down. Casada, who was elected into the role of Speaker of the House in January 2019, became embroiled in a media frenzy that started in the last days of the first session of the 111th General Assembly and lasted about three weeks. After several private texts with racial and sexual content with his chief of staff were released, the chief of staff was accused of altering the date of an email to frame a regular protestor at the Capitol, allegations of surveilling committee rooms and wrongdoing on the vote to pass the Education Savings Account, the House Republican Caucus held a private meeting that resulted in a vote of no confidence in Casada as Speaker. “I’m not interested in running as Speaker at this time,” Lamberth told The Star. He further elaborated, “I ran for State Representative for a two year term – and that’s a blessing. I love serving my community.” “I also ran to serve as Majority Leader for a two-year term,”…

Read the full story

So Far During His First Term, U.S. Rep. Green Introduces Nine Pieces of Legislation

Jason M. Reynolds

  U.S. Rep. Dr. Mark Green, a freshman legislator, has introduced nine pieces of legislation so far in his tenure, Congressional records show. The nine pieces of legislation are more than any other Republican freshman member has sponsored, records show. The average amount introduced by freshmen members is 3.3. Here are the pieces of legislation Green has sponsored: H.R. 847 – Protecting Gold Star Spouses Act of 2019 H.R. 1563 – Chester County Reversionary Interest Release Act H.R. 1810 – Kids to College Act H.J.Res. 52 – Amendment to Limit SCOTUS Seats to 9 H.R. 2047 – Allied Burden Sharing Report Act of 2019 H.R. 2589 – Unifying DHS Intelligence Enterprise Act H.R. 2715 – Medicaid Improvement and State Flexibility Act H.R. 2716 – Protecting Gold Star Children Act of 2019 H.Res.304 – Raising a question of the privileges of the House Rep. Green also introduced one amendment that was considered on the House floor. H.Amdt. 77 was offered to alter H.R. 1. House Democrats voted down Green’s amendment to protect free speech in the resolution, which seeks to give the federal government control of elections, The Tennessee Star reported in March. Green is the president of the Republican freshman class.…

Read the full story

The Tennessee Star Report: Which Republicans Have Called for a Meeting of the House GOP Caucus?

Julie Carr

  On Thursday morning’s Tennessee Star Report with Steve Gill and Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 am to 8:00 am – the duo spoke about the recent call for a meeting of the Tennessee Republican House Caucus to discuss the controversies surrounding House Speaker Glen Casada. Later on in the segment, the team discussed how this was just another attempt at a Democratic induced “scandal” to remove Casada based solely on inappropriate text messages sent before he became Speaker and unproven allegations of bad conduct.  The men agreed that the caucus should be held openly so that the truth would be heard by the public. Here is the transcript from the show: Gill: Alright, the poll is open and voters are flocking to Tennessee Star on Facebook to cast their votes. The poll question of the day, very easy. Should the Republican House caucus meeting Monday to discuss the future of Glen Casada be open to the public? Is there support? Is there the base to pull him off the speakership? To pull him out of the House all together to expel him? And again, what are the charges? What has he…

Read the full story

Glen Casada Wins House Republican Nomination For Speaker

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Widely seen as the favored candidate, State Representative Glen Casada easily won the three-way race for Speaker-Elect with 43 of 73 votes, setting the tone for the other mainly predictable 11 elections held during the House Republican Caucus meeting held Tuesday. As current Republican Caucus Chairman, Representative Ryan Williams (Cookeville) opened the meeting and reviewed some ground rules. Williams said that, per the Bylaws of the House Republican Caucus, an independent accounting firm would count the ballots and declare the winner of each race. The successful candidate would need a total of 37 votes, even if a member chose not to vote. Although it did not happen, there was a provision in the event that no candidate received 37 votes in the first round, whereby the person with the lowest number of votes would be eliminated, and additional votes taken until a candidate reached 37 votes. The votes for each position would not be cast until the results of the previous election were declared. Williams announced that the ballots and tally sheets would be preserved and available for review in the office of the new duly-elected Caucus Chair. Representative Dan Howell (Georgetown) made a motion, which was…

Read the full story