Prior to going in to the WW's story on Minnis, I want to preface this by saying one thing. If we take out a number of Oregon Republicans in this year's election, none of this will matter. Other Republicans will not be vying to be Speaker of the Oregon House as they will have to take the House Minority leader position.

Ballots are out. Turn them in ASAP! The final day to get them in the hands of your county elections office is Tuesday May 16th. Right - 6 days left.

OK, now the WW's story:

Even House Speaker Karen Minnis' sharpest critics from outside the Republican Party credit her for running an extraordinarily efficient ship the past two legislative sessions.

But now the same efficiency that's made her perhaps Oregon's most effective elected official may be undermining her reign from within the GOP.

One House Republican is working to defeat a key member of Minnis' team for a top leadership post. And another, speaking on background for fear of retribution, says at least four members of the caucus are quietly seeking support for leadership runs.

"The troops are getting restless," says that second GOP member. "The speaker will not be the speaker next term."

Whether that coup will come to pass is uncertain.

What is certain is what's ticking off several House Republicans: They think the prepackaged one-day special session April 20 that had Minnis' fingerprints all over it benefited her and Democrats far more than them.

OK OK OK. So my favorite part is when a second GOP member said, "The speaker will not be the speaker next term".

Read Nigel's entire article here.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 at 11:10 AM. Want to discuss? Leave a comment below.