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  [PA] Democrat plans to support Perzel, spoiling party speakership
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ContributorScottĀ³ 
Last EditedScottĀ³  Dec 30, 2006 03:35pm
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CategoryNews
MediaNewspaper - Windsor Hights Herald
News DateSaturday, December 30, 2006 09:00:00 PM UTC0:0
DescriptionAP article.

An excerpt...
"A Democratic lawmaker is telling colleagues he will support Republican John Perzel for speaker of the state House of Representatives, a move that could foil the Democrats' hopes of assuming the leadership post.

In a letter dated Saturday, Rep. Thomas R. Caltagirone [Link] of Berks County wrote that he will cross party lines to help keep the speaker's gavel in Perzel's hands.

"I have always found Rep. Perzel to be a man of his word, and serious about the issues of public policy," Caltagirone wrote. "I believe the people of Pennsylvania will be best served if he is elected as speaker on Jan. 2, and he will have my support."

The speaker sets the House's voting agenda and moves bills into committees, making it the most powerful job in the chamber. Perzel has been speaker since 2003.

The November election gave Democrats a 102-101 majority in the House, theoretically giving them the power to elect their own speaker and majority leader when they convene Tuesday.

But Perzel, R-Philadelphia, has resisted pressure from Democratic leader Rep. Bill DeWeese of Greene County to relinquish his Capitol offices, fueling speculation that he would try to retain the speakership through a Democratic defection or some other means. Republicans have held the post for 12 years.

Caltagirone's letter, first reported in the Reading Eagle on Saturday, said he planned to remain a Democrat."
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