House eyes speaker
pro tem race

By By Terry R. Cassreino / assistant managing editor
Jan. 4, 2004
When state House members begin a new four-year term Tuesday and open the 2004 Legislature, they'll do more than just choose a new speaker to preside over the 122-member body.
Also on the agenda: The election of a speaker pro term, the second-in-command of the state House and a job that could wind up in the hands of a longtime lawmaker from the Coast.
State Rep. J.P. Compretta, D-Bay St. Louis, didn't have all the votes he needed last week to claim an outright victory. But Compretta finds himself in an ideal position in a four-man race to snag a win.
The speaker pro term isn't as high profile, important or powerful as the speaker. The pro term doesn't appoint committees, doesn't name committee chairmen and doesn't decide which issues are debated.
But the pro term is still a major position.
Among other things, the pro term controls the chamber's personnel by chairing the House Management Committee and historically has severed as a top consultant to the speaker.
Compretta's advantage
So what makes Compretta such an attractive candidate? For starters, Compretta is well liked, is easy to work with and has built a strong reputation for being fair during stints as chairman of the House Transportation and Local &Private committees.
But here's the kicker: Many House members may back Compretta as the compromise choice from a field that includes Charlie Capps Jr., D-Cleveland, Mark Formby, R-Picayune, and George Flaggs Jr., D-Vicksburg.
Capps, a 32-year lawmaker, appears the least likely to win. Capps was one of the last holdouts in backing Billy McCoy of Rienzi for speaker, and that alone could cost Capps the votes he needs for the office.
Formby, an 11-year lawmaker, also presents problems for lawmakers. Some, including many rural white Democrats, view him as too much of a staunch Republican and too far to the right politically.
Flaggs, a 16-year lawmaker, raises some of the same problems as Formby but from the other vantage point. Some lawmakers view Flaggs as too much of a staunch Democrat and too far to the left politically.
And that leaves Compretta, a 24-year lawmaker, sitting in the middle waiting for the fallout and hoping he can win enough support from the other three camps to push himself to victory.
Race question
Some political observers still point to the question of race and how much of a factor it could play in the pro term election.
Capps, Formby and Compretta are white, while Flaggs is black. Should Flaggs lose or drop out of the pro term contest, any concern among blacks could be nixed if McCoy awards them top committee assignments.
And that possibility looms more likely now that McCoy has said he wants to create new House committees to specialize in legislation for forestry, gambling, Medicaid and other high-profile issues.
Those panels would be in addition to the 30 House committees already in existence.
And while McCoy has said little about committee assignments, some insiders say he could name a key black legislator to head the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee one of the House's two top money panels.
Compretta, however, is more concerned about the pro term election and isn't as focused on the peripheral issues. He believes he has a chance and plans to talk with lawmakers from now until the election.
He said he hopes the pro term office will be decided before Tuesday and that the issue isn't put to a potentially divisive roll call vote.