Harwell on track as House speaker

NASHVILLE -- Republicans on Thursday voted to make Rep. Beth Harwell their nominee for House speaker, virtually ensuring she will become the first woman in Tennessee to wield the speaker's gavel.

The 53-year-old Nashville Republican beat Rep. Glen Casada, R-College Grove, despite attacks from some tea party and gun-rights activists who charged she was too moderate.

The vote was by secret ballot. One member abstained.

When the 107th General Assembly convenes Jan. 11, Republicans will have a 64-34 advantage over Democrats, making Harwell's election as speaker almost certain. The one-time state Republican Party chairwoman and former college professor would become the most-powerful elected woman in state political history.

In a speech before the vote, Harwell touted what she said are her conservative principles and pointed to 14 Republican seats gained in the Nov. 2 election.

"The reality is we do not need a single Democratic vote to do anything on the House floor," Harwell said.

She warned Republicans to guard against two things.

"We have received a mandate to put these [Republican] principles into state government at every level, and we should never lose that focus," she said. "If we do, the only other thing that the Democrats can do to have any hope is have divisive action from within."

She referred to 2008, when Republicans gained a 50-49 majority but lost the speakership. GOP Rep. Kent Williams, of Elizabethton, vote with all 49 Democrats to make himself speaker over Republican Jason Mumpower, the favorite for the job.

Republicans later bounced Williams out of the party. He was re-elected as an independent.

Casada, the Republican caucus chairman over the last two years, said Thursday he won't run for another leadership position.

"I am looking forward to supporting Beth as a member of the caucus, and I hope she puts me on some good committees," he said, smiling. "And I'm excited she is speaker and [all 64 Republicans] will come together as a united caucus."

Rep. Richard Floyd, R-Chattanooga, supported Casada but said, "we could not lose in this election. We had two quality people, both with great skill sets."

Floyd, who recently told Hamilton County Republicans that he would "cut my wrists if Kent Williams is speaker again," joked Thursday that "I get to live on."

House Democratic Caucus Chairman Mike Turner, of Nashville, called Harwell's victory "surprising."

"I thought it [Nov. 2 election] was a tea party mandate," Turner said. "It took them two weeks to go against the tea party."

He said that Harwell "puts a kinder spin on things, and we'll probably get along better and it might not be as confrontational. But it's still going to be the same side of beef no matter how they serve it up."