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Richardson poised to be speaker

JEFFERSON CITY, MO. — The resignation of Rep. John Diehl as House Speaker in Missouri begs the question everyone in the legislature is asking: who will be the next Speaker of the House?

Under the law, the House Speaker Pro Tem, Rep. Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, assumes the duties of the speaker if the office is vacated for any reason. But in order to retain the post for longer than an interim timeframe, Hoskins would need at least 82 votes in the House to officially name him as the new speaker.

Richardson
Richardson

Several members of the Republican caucus have told The Missouri Times Rep. Todd Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff, is the most likely candidate to succeed Diehl, who resigned earlier today.

Richardson is the current majority floor leader in the House, a position commonly viewed as a stepping-stone to the post of speaker. Since his caucus voted him into the post last year, most Republicans assumed that Richardson would win the post of speaker after the 2016 elections, when Diehl would have been termed out.

Richardson is the son of a former minority leader in the House, Mark Richardson, and has a reputation as a sharp dealmaker with a natural gift for politics with an unblemished record of integrity. Richardson has been heavily involved in efforts with the majority party this year to pass municipal court reform, tort reform, student transfers and more.

The full House must vote to elect their own speaker, but the majority caucus generally nominates an individual informally to seek the post. Republicans in the House will caucus tonight and they are widely expected to leave that meeting with a decision about who they will be supporting in a likely formal vote by the full house tomorrow morning.