It looks like House Speaker Rick Thompson will be keeping that title.
Democrat members of the House of Delegates are scheduled to meet in caucus at the State Capitol on Sunday. During that caucus, they will select a leader for the next two years.
Kanawha County Delegate Doug Skaff says he is not anticipating any change.
“I fully expect Rick Thompson to come out of there with a unified Democrat team and be the Speaker choice of the Democrat caucus,” Delegate Skaff said on Thursday’s MetroNews Talkline.
He was one of the House members who considered other Speaker options following the 2012 election cycle that shifted the balance in the House from 65 Democrats and 35 Republicans to 54 Democrats and 46 Republicans.
It’s the most Republicans the House has had since 1928.
Skaff says other other possible candidates had to, at least, be considered.
“Anytime you have an election like this where it’s so close….there’s always going to be chatter and rumors and discussions of, should there be a change? Or is there somebody new who is going to step up?”
He says the new makeup of the House should prove that West Virginia’s are moving to the middle politically. Skaff says the House’s actions will have to reflect that as well.
“We have a real opportunity with those people on both sides. You have a group of Republicans, I think, that are willing to work together. You have groups of Democrats that want to work together and take those labels off and see what we can do,” Delegate Skaff said.
House Speaker Rick Thompson has represented Wayne County at the State House since 2000, after serving an earlier term from 1981 to 1983. He was first elected Speaker in January 2007.
The 2013 Regular Legislative Session opens on Wednesday, February 13th.