This Washington
Afternoon Fizz: Sen. Brown Re-Elected as Majority Leader
State Sen. Lisa Brown (D-3, Spokane) was reelected by the Democratic caucus this weekend to be majority leader, a position she's held since 2005.
Normally, this wouldn't be so newsworthy, but the Democrats were rocked by a Republican backlash last week, likely losing four of the seven races that were in play: Sens. Randy Gordon, Claudia Kauffman, Chris Marr, and Eric Oemig.
This brings their numbers down from a 31-18 advantage over the GOP to a 27-22 advantage. That should be a comfy majority, but four of the senators, Mary Margaret Haugen, Brian Hatfield, Steve Hobbs, and Tim Sheldon (particularly Hatfield and Sheldon) are more conservative than many in their caucus. Hobbs, in fact, is head of the Roadkill Caucus, the ad hoc Democratic moderate caucus. Senators like Hatfield and Sheldon make Democratic control of the Senate a bit shaky and there was talk that Brown, a liberal, was no a longer shoo-in for the top spot.
Normally, this wouldn't be so newsworthy, but the Democrats were rocked by a Republican backlash last week, likely losing four of the seven races that were in play: Sens. Randy Gordon, Claudia Kauffman, Chris Marr, and Eric Oemig.
This brings their numbers down from a 31-18 advantage over the GOP to a 27-22 advantage. That should be a comfy majority, but four of the senators, Mary Margaret Haugen, Brian Hatfield, Steve Hobbs, and Tim Sheldon (particularly Hatfield and Sheldon) are more conservative than many in their caucus. Hobbs, in fact, is head of the Roadkill Caucus, the ad hoc Democratic moderate caucus. Senators like Hatfield and Sheldon make Democratic control of the Senate a bit shaky and there was talk that Brown, a liberal, was no a longer shoo-in for the top spot.
