Panic in the House?
Telephone lines were burning Friday as lobbyists and Republican operatives were in a panic over an independent telephone pole conducted by one lobbyist that has insiders conviced House Speaker Greg Curtis will go down to defeat this year.
I wrote in an earlier blog that Curtis' own survey showed him down by eight points among unaffiliated voters, but his supporters felt he would still win because Republicans outnumber Democrats to such a great degree in the district. But the poll that was discussed Friday has Curtis significantly down among all voters and has put the House Republican caucus in a frenzy.
Sources say that Republican legislators already are recruiting colleagues to run as the next speaker. If Curtis does lose, expect that race to be wide open. Curtis would be the first sitting speaker in memory to lose a bid for re-election to the House.
Reportedly, voters are angry over three specific issues: The Legislature's hijacking of the transportation initiative from Salt Lake County and its refusal to tell voters how lawmakers would choose to spend the money prior to Tuesday's vote on the ballot proposal to raise the sales tax for transportation; Curtis' role in the back-room deals that led to public financing to help Salt Lake Real build a soccer stadium in Sandy; and Curtis' trip with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., to China, at taxpayer expense.
Meanwhile, telephone surveys also show Democrat Trish Beck in a dead heat with Republilcan Wayne Niederhauser in Sandy's Senate District 9, which has been held by former Senate President Al Mansell. Niederhauser is Mansell's hand-picked successor, so if Beck wins, it would be a significant blow to what has been a smoothly
running Republican machine in Sandy.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
Telephone lines were burning Friday as lobbyists and Republican operatives were in a panic over an independent telephone pole conducted by one lobbyist that has insiders conviced House Speaker Greg Curtis will go down to defeat this year.
I wrote in an earlier blog that Curtis' own survey showed him down by eight points among unaffiliated voters, but his supporters felt he would still win because Republicans outnumber Democrats to such a great degree in the district. But the poll that was discussed Friday has Curtis significantly down among all voters and has put the House Republican caucus in a frenzy.
Sources say that Republican legislators already are recruiting colleagues to run as the next speaker. If Curtis does lose, expect that race to be wide open. Curtis would be the first sitting speaker in memory to lose a bid for re-election to the House.
Reportedly, voters are angry over three specific issues: The Legislature's hijacking of the transportation initiative from Salt Lake County and its refusal to tell voters how lawmakers would choose to spend the money prior to Tuesday's vote on the ballot proposal to raise the sales tax for transportation; Curtis' role in the back-room deals that led to public financing to help Salt Lake Real build a soccer stadium in Sandy; and Curtis' trip with Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., to China, at taxpayer expense.
Meanwhile, telephone surveys also show Democrat Trish Beck in a dead heat with Republilcan Wayne Niederhauser in Sandy's Senate District 9, which has been held by former Senate President Al Mansell. Niederhauser is Mansell's hand-picked successor, so if Beck wins, it would be a significant blow to what has been a smoothly
running Republican machine in Sandy.
Cheers,
Paul Rolly
7:47 PM
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