Republican lawmaker who nominated Democratic state House speaker calls on him to resign
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Last week in Harrisburg, 15 Republicans joined all the democrats in the state house in Harrisburg to elect a new Speaker Mark Rozzi, a Democrat.
As political editor Jon Delano reports, the key Republican behind that is now calling on Rozzi to resign.
Both are survivors of child sexual abuse and have been friends, but state Representative Jim Gregory, a Republican who nominated Rozzi to be speaker of the state House, says Rozzi lied to him.
"Unfortunately and sadly, lying in politics should not be an excuse," he said.
Gregory says Rozzi promised he would switch parties from Democrat to independent, which would mean neither party would have a majority on the House floor.
"Find someone who would be willing to commit and promise to go independent," Gregory said "I thought we had that person because he made that commitment to me and others, and when he made his speech he made that commitment to the people of Pennsylvania."
"People don't live up to commitments, and he has not lived up to his," he added. "I did ask for him to resign."
Gregory says Republicans, who until the special elections in February outnumber Democrats, may try to remove Rozzi as speaker. But Gregory suspects Rozzi is in cahoots with the Democrats to keep the House adjourned to prevent a motion to reorganize.
"That would have been our next order," he said. "They know we still have the majority, and we could have done that. So now they have sent us home until after the special election, which means once those are done, we'll be in the minority. They just basically ran out the clock until they have the majority."
KDKA-TV reached out to Rozzi and Democratic leaders for comment, and they had none Wednesday. Rozzi did issue a video saying the House must pass Gregory's constitutional amendment so victims of child sexual abuse could sue their abusers.
"Let me be clear: as long as I am the speaker of the House of Representatives, the House will consider no other legislation until the General Assembly passes the language of Representative Gregory's constitutional amendment," Rozzi said.
So far, no sign that is happening or that Rozzi will resign. If Democrats win all three special elections in Allegheny County next month, sources say there may be an effort to replace Rozzi with House Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton, but even that's not a certainty.
Nicole Reigelman, Press Secretary, Office of Democratic Leader Joanna McClinton provided KDKA with a statement, which you can read below.
"The House Democratic Caucus has always and continues to stand with Speaker Rozzi and his pursuit of justice for survivors of childhood sexual abuse. While we cannot comment on the personal relationship between Rep. Gregory and Speaker Rozzi, it was disappointing to hear Rep Gregory confirm that House Republican support for survivors is contingent on passage of Republican policy priorities and the political affiliation of the Speaker."