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Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams (left) will step down from his post on Thursday as a likely step toward running for Representative Jeff Flake’s seat in Congress.
Flake’s planning a run for U.S. Senator Jon Kyl’s soon-to-be-vacant seat, and Adams has been among the possible candidates for Flake’s Congressional District Six.
According to local reporter Howie Fischer, a spokesman for the House Republicans declined to say whether Adams will be leaving the State Legislature entirely, but that he intends to make a statement on Thursday. On that day, the House of Representatives will meet in a special meeting, and Republicans representatives will vote on their new leader immediately afterwards.
The Capitol Times reports that several House Republicans expected Adams to make his move about this time and have been vying for his post. One of the names thrown out is Jerry Weiers, brother of Jim Weiers, the lawmaker who Adams replaced as House Speaker in 2008. One Democratic Arizona blogger predicts the new speaker is likely to be Andy Tobin.
Whoever the new speaker is, he or she (wait — no “she” names were mentioned as possibilities…) will face the challenge of keeping the Legislature in its place as a tool of extreme right-wingers. Not an easy task after the last couple of years.
