September 30, 2009
Report: Speaker Murphy Will Not Run for Speakership Again
From the AP via Turn to Ten:
A Rhode Island lawmaker says House Speaker William Murphy has told his colleagues he’s stepping down from his leadership post when the next term begins.Rep. Kenneth Carter told The Associated Press he was in a meeting last week in which Murphy told his committee chairs he would finish out his term as speaker then step down.
Carter says Murphy did not elaborate on his future plans.
Larry Berman, a spokesman for Murphy, told NBC 10 that he had no comment.
The 46-year-old Democrat has been House speaker since 2003, and has served in the General Assembly since 1992. He represents West Warwick.
ADDENDUM
WPRO's Dan Yorke determined that the original source of the report is Matt Jerzyk over at RIFuture.
ADDENDUM II
Tim points out that Dan Yorke talked about this development yesterday.
Speaker Murphy makes it official and then some in an interview this afternoon with the ProJo's Katherine Gregg - this will be his last term as Speaker and his last term in the House of Representatives.
In an interview with The Journal Wednesday, the West Warwick Democrat said he conveyed his decision at a chairmans' dinner at the Capriccio restaurant last Wednesday, along with his endorsement of House Majority Leader Gordon Fox to succeed him."I will not be seeking reelection in 2011,'' he said.
Speaker Murphy's work in the statehouse has shown the hack he is. On top of it, he represents drunk drivers who kill and hurt innocent people. He got the kid off who killed an innocent woman walking home from work in Warwick and continues to work with other drunk drivers to skirt the law. He's not only a joke in regards to his political work, but a disgusting and heartless human being.
Posted by: steadman at September 30, 2009 5:50 PMIt was posted on RI Future first, then Murphy's office essentially denied it to Ian Donnis at WRNI, then the Projo blog has just confirmed it. Pretty sloppy roll out, much like Bill Murphy's work ethic as speaker.
Posted by: Will at September 30, 2009 7:04 PMDan Yorke was on this story yesterday. Apparently the Impotent Emperor Bill Murphy is "burned out" and will not finish out this current term. Just can't figure out what Murphy is burnt out from. Perhaps his chosen profession of defending drunks who slaughter innocents has finally gotten to him? It certainly can't be his work in the legislature that's frazzled Murph because this bum has done zero heavy lifting in the years he's been up there. Murphy will go down in history as one of the most ineffective and weakest House Speakers ever. Methinks the real cause of Murphy's fatigue is from carrying talentless dead weight like Tiny Timmy Williamson all these years.
Posted by: Tim at September 30, 2009 7:05 PMIn six years, he did f@ck all for the state. But he did plenty for his bank account by not changing the breatholizer law. Drunk drivers knew who to hire to get off.
Posted by: Ralph at September 30, 2009 7:16 PMMonique, Matilda may have been the initial source of the story that went public today but the story was only put out there today and confirmed by Murphy because Dan Yorke outed him and his "issues" yesterday. The power of talk radio strikes again! Yorke says he's been told Murphy is burnt and will not finish his term as Speaker.
Posted by: Tim at September 30, 2009 7:34 PMBurnt out? Come on! He took a long hard look at what lies ahead, what the options are, and decided to leave the final chapter of the end game in RI to another "leader." I'd say there's a better than 50/50 shot that Murphy moves to Florida, or somewhere else far from the Ocean State's inevitable collapse.
However, this makes one interesting point even more clear: at least some Dems up on Smith Hill are going to let the progressives have their day and exercise their "leadership" as fiscal armageddon arrives. The odds of deep cuts to public sector union pensions just went way, way up.
Posted by: John at September 30, 2009 11:18 PMI think he left because of pressure from the Senate President. The House and Senate were at the great odds this year and now that Weed was Prez, well, would you want to listen to her or her butt boys on a daily basis?
Posted by: Roland at October 1, 2009 8:51 AMHi!
It will be interesting to hear about the jockeying for Speaker and how it impacts other leadership positions. It would be interesting on handicapping for potential Speaker candidates.
While The Speaker prefers Gordon Fox, the Majority Leader to succeed him, it will be interesting if Fox is able to sew this up. Obviously not all Democratic representatives have leadership positions and some no doubt would like to get one!
Regards,
Scott