Rep. Greg Stumbo, the former state House majority floor leader and state attorney general from Kentucky, ended months of speculation today by telling the Herald-Leader he is running for House speaker.
Stumbo told the Herald-Leader’s Ryan Alessi and Larry Dale Keeling that he will challenge Rep. Jody Richards of Bowling Green, the state’s longest-serving House speaker, in January’s leadership elections.
Stumbo told Keeling he hasn’t obtained many commitments for votes from fellow House members, but feels he would win the election were it held today.
“The entire membership feels like a lot of times we haven’t held our ground and that, in some instances, we haven’t been as forceful in maintaining our positions as Sen. Williams and the senate conferees have been,” Alessi quotes Stumbo as saying.
I’m interested to see how several members of the local delegation side come January.
Rep. Jim Glenn of Owensboro, who is being challenged this November by Republican Ben Boarman, relied on Richards two years ago when he unseated Republican Joe Bowen in the 13th District. Richards also attended an Owensboro fundraiser this summer for Glenn.
But Glenn was critical of the House leadership following this spring’s legislative session, and said recently that he is focusing on the election in November and not the one in January.
Similarly, Rep. Tommy Thompson of Philpot has been a Richards ally in the past, including supporting the Bowling Green Democrat’s campaign for governor last spring. Thompson was also named to chair the House Banking and Insurance Committee last year by the Richards-headed House leadership.
But Thompson reportedly attended a recent luncheon at a recent luncheon in Frankfort hosted by Stumbo to help connect some House members with possible campaign contributors.
Filed under: Kentucky politics | Tagged: Greg Stumbo, House leadership, Jim Glenn, Jody Richards, Tommy Thompson
