Posted on 05/25/2011 7:07:05 PM PDT by NerdDad
He first joined the legislature back in 1980, now more than 30 years later democratic House Speaker Billy McCoy is putting down the gavel for good and retiring.
It's a move some lawmakers say they expected.
"He sent some signals that he was thinking about that and I had a number of conversations with him where he said he has not made up his mind," said Rep. Cecil Brown (D-Jackson).
"He won under current districts by one vote. He became speaker by one vote," said Rep. Mark Baker, (R-Brandon). "I don't think those votes are there to re-elect him speaker."
McCoy, at 68 years old, is no stranger to health problems and although he made no mention of exactly what prompted him to not seek re-election, Democrats and Republicans say his service will be hard to match.
"He had a reverence and a love for the House of Representatives," Baker said.
"He's a good man," Brown said. "He cares a great deal about the state of Mississippi and the people of the state."
McCoy became a polarizing figure during the 2011 Legislative Session when he refused to appoint House Conferees to hammer out the state's redistricting plans.
Many Republicans say it was a move to try and keep control of not only the House, but the speakership.
Democrats say it was Republicans were trying to unfairly overtake the House.
By leaving the legislature, McCoy's District 3 seat isn't the only one now of up grabs.
McCoy spent his last two terms presiding over the House as Speaker and now with his absence, political parties will be lining up their candidates.
Lawmakers from both sides say the battle for Speaker of the House will be one of the most important.
"I think it's going to be a fairly close election in terms of Democrats versus Republicans," Brown said. "I think the Democrats will retain the majority in the House but that's not a given, we've got a lot of work to do."
"The Republican Conference met earlier in the session and decided that we would wait until after the elections to come back as a group and confer on the issue as to whether we would support somebody and if so, who," Baker said.
A Republican candidate, William Arnold has already filed papers to run for McCoy's seat in District 3.
Outstanding good news Mississippi ping
Yay, a Republican speaker of the house, coming soon!
Yes indeed! There are a lot of rats leaving the ship ahead of this election. JP Compretta, McCoy’s second, is also bailing along with a bunch of others.
democratic House Speaker Billy McCoy
Where is Billy from?
McCoy hails from Rienzi, Alcorn County, Mississippi.
Why o’ why, am I not surprised?
I trust you and yours are doing fine.
He’s a worm farmer from Rienzi.
I pray that the damage that he has done to this wonderful state is not irreparable.
The rats obviously sense the wave of conservatism that is sweeping this state and they are running away as fast as they can go. Now, if they will take that Conway Twitty lookalike attorney general with them we might be able to make a clean sweep.
YIPPEEEEE!
Great news for Missippy!
Thanks, NerdDad, and it’s good to “see” you!
The article states that McCoy’s NE MS district, as redrawn, only gave him a one-vote margin in the most recent election? Was he so powerless as a Democrat Speaker in a House in which Democrats have a 69-53 advantage that he couldn’t even protect his own district in redistricting?
I see that there are still A LOT of Democrats representing overwhelmingly white (and thus, in recent elections, overwhelmingly Republican) constituencies. I assume that a little straightening of district lines so that the Democrat-held districts no longer combine white rural areas with black urban areas (and no longer pack white suburban areas into relatively few GOP districts) could flip a 69-53 Dem House into a 69-53 GOP House. What does the new map look like?
Let me clarify what the article is saying there. McCoy was reelected to the *speaker position* by only one vote. The speculation being that, after redistricting, there would be enough of a swing in conservative balance—party notwithstanding—that he might not have that one vote margin in the next speaker’s election.
Redistricting is (as we say it down here) “a whole nuther story.” The redistricting map drawn by McCoy’s proxies is commonly referred to as “the snookered map” because so many people got snookered into supporting it sight unseen—think Obamacare. It in no way endangered Billy McCoy’s reelection chances to the legislature. In fact, it looked to strengthen the dim hold—though possibly more conservative dims—on the house through its wild gerrymandering. That map has since been thrown out by a federal court and the legislature was told to try again next year. McCoy’s decision to retire was most likely very heavily influenced by the failure to get that “snookered map” in place for the next legislative election.
So, there is no redistricting map right now. We will hold our election in November with the current districts and very likely have to pay for another special election with the new districts, next year. With the current districts there will likely be a dramatic swing towards conservatism in both houses—hence the rats abandoning ship. With a **FAIRLY** redrawn map, that conservative tide is likely to result in an even stronger hold on both houses by conservatives.
Oh, I see what my mistake was. the article said:
“”He won under current districts by one vote. He became speaker by one vote,” said Rep. Mark Baker, (R-Brandon). “I don’t think those votes are there to re-elect him speaker.””
When Baker said that McCoy was elected Speaker by one vote, he wasn’t saying something new, he was merely explaining what he meant by “he won under current districts by one vote.” Got it.
Boy, quite a few conservative Democrats must have voted for the Republican Speaker candidate if McCoy won by only one vote, huh?
As for how the GOP would win a majority if the lines are drawn fairly, I am absolutely certain that that would be the case. Not only would Dem incumbents face much more conservative electorates, but the main reason why many of them were Democrats in the first place—it was easier to win as a Democrat because you automatically get 30% of the vote because districts were 30% black—would be gone, and you’d see a whole slew of party switches and retirements.
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