Ehrhart Wants Public Vote For Speaker's Gavel

(7/22/08) Here’s a twist on the upcoming Speaker’s race among Republican House members in November - - Rep. Earl Ehrhart, chairman of the House Rules Committee and fierce Glenn Richardson partisan, wants a public vote - not a secret ballot.

That almost certainly means that only the most daring would vote for challenger David Ralston.

Ehrhart said that’s not his motive. “I don’t think he has 10 votes,” he said.

Rather, Ehrhart said it’s a matter of making the public’s business more open. “We’ve been talking about changing to public votes for DOT races. I can’t think of any justification for secret votes for anything the Legislature votes for.”

He said he hasn’t discussed the idea with other ranking members of the GOP Caucus yet but he’s completely serious about the idea. “I’ll make a motion. It’s almost dishonest to have a secret ballot on this or FOT or anything else.”

As for who will be the next Speaker, Ehrhart said Richardson probably has more than 95 House Republicans solid for him now. “He’s got Jerry (Keen), Mark (Burkhalter), me. I can’t find anybody that has any standing that’s supporting (Ralston.)”