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Republicans nominate Roger Hanshaw to be new House speaker

CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Republican majority in the House of Delegates has nominated two-term Delegate Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, to be the new speaker.

The decision was made during a caucus of more than four hours in the House chamber.

When the doors opened shortly before midnight, GOP delegates stood around Hanshaw as he made introductory remarks focused on building the state’s economy.

The full House will officially vote for a new speaker at 9 a.m. Wednesday. Democrats are likely to nominate current Minority Leader Tim Miley, D-Harrison.

Delegates are choosing a new Speaker because of the resignation of Tim Armstead, R-Kanawha, to run for state Supreme Court. Gov. Jim Justice has appointed Armstead temporarily to the court.

Besides Hanshaw, the other front-runner for speaker among Republicans was House Finance Chairman Eric Nelson, R-Kanawha.

The final vote between Hanshaw and Nelson was 32-30.

Others in the mix included Delegate Jim Butler, R-Mason and Delegate Marty Gearheart, R-Mercer. Gearheart was interested in holding the position just through the General Election.

Majority Leader Daryl Cowles, who had advocated himself as a speaker to provide stability until after the General Election, wound up not being among the nominees.

Much of the time delegates took to decide their nominee was devoted to nomination speeches and allowing each of the four candidates to make their case, allowing for questions and answers. The actual voting process took about 45 minutes.

Hanshaw, 38, was first elected to the House in 2014. He’s a lawyer with the Bowles, Rice firm, focusing on environmental and technical issues in business transactions, as well as regulatory compliance matters.

He also has a Ph.D. in chemistry and is a certified professional parliamentarian.

Hanshaw has been involved in several high-profile legislative activities even as the body has been outside its regular session.

He is a member of the PEIA Task Force, which is still in the process of determining the shape of insurance plans for public employees, as well as how to pay for the plans.

Hanshaw is co-chairman of the Legislature’s Committee on Flooding, which has been swept into a controversy over why state government has lagged on spending an available $150 million in federal grant money on relief for the devastating 2016 floods.

And Hanshaw, as vice chairman of Judiciary, has been among the delegates overseeing the impeachment of the Supreme Court. He is one of five official managers in that process, now responsible for presenting the impeachment case in upcoming Senate trials.





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