Tensions in the Cobb legislative delegation boiled over Wednesday as House Democrats walked out of a meeting to elect new leadership, denying the body quorum.
The delegation recently flipped from majority Republican to majority Democrat after November’s suburban ‘blue wave,’ and Democrats had agreed on a slate of nominees going into the meeting, said State Sen. Jen Jordan.
At the top of their list for chair was State Rep. David Wilkerson. But just after his nomination, Republicans put forward their own candidate: Democratic State Sen. Michael Rhett.
Jordan accused Rhett of cutting a “side deal” with Republicans to “circumvent the slate that had been decided by the Democrats.”
She said the walkout was intended to buy time while the Democrats regroup to decide their next step.
“It took everybody by surprise,” Jordan said. “It just seems like such a naked attempt to keep power” by Republicans.
She said among Democrats’ top priorities—the reason they need to control the delegation—is reforming Cobb’s Board of Elections to expand early voting and rollback what they see as efforts to depress turnout in some areas.
Sen. Rhett said he didn’t know why his fellow Democrats walked out. He said he was approached by a bipartisan group of lawmakers who asked to nominate him, and he thought “why not?”
“It’d be nice, after not having a Democrat in the chair, to have two running,” he said. “I’ve always been the type of person who always advocates policies over politics.”
State Sen. Lindsey Tippins, who will remain in his position as chair for the time being, said he hasn’t decided on a course of action yet. He dismissed Democrats’ accusations that Republicans were doing something nefarious by supporting Rhett, who he called a “consensus-builder.”
“Everyone in the delegation has the right to vote for the individual of their choosing,” he said. “If (Wilkerson) cannot get the votes of his colleagues, that’s his problem.”
