Big things for Louise Slaughter
Over at the D&C, Joe Spector has an excellent piece on what the last election means for local members of Congress. I’m going to stay away from their discussion of NY-29 and NY-25 until all the votes are counted (I know things don’t look good right now, but let’s wait until everything is recanvassed before we start writing obituaries). Slaughter will gain a lot of influence:
The biggest beneficiary is Rep. Louise Slaughter, D-Fairport, who is poised to become the first woman to lead the powerful House Rules Committee.
Experts say Slaughter’s new role will give her greater influence and allow her to secure additional money and support for projects and initiatives in her district, which covers all of Rochester and stretches into Buffalo.
The position will make her the most powerful member of Congress from Monroe County in at least 50 years. “Everybody is going to want to be her friend,” said Brad Fitch, a congressional analyst in Virginia. “They want to make sure that Louise Slaughter is on their Christmas card list.”
Tom Reynolds will lose a bit of his vaunted clout. Not only is he now in the minority in Congress, but he will give up his position as head of the RNCC. He will remain as deputy whip. The article says something about Reynolds I hadn’t heard before:
Had Republicans retained control, he was a possible candidate for House speaker.
Evildoers look out! Louise “I’m as mad as a wet hen” Slaughter, in charge of House Rules? Can you say “SuperNanny”?
This shift in power kind of makes me wish Tom DeLay was still around… it would have been sweet to see him politically burned at the stake by Louise