In states like Kansas and Texas, Democrats and liberal Republicans have been teaming up to overrule the nominal Republican majorities in the state legislatures. But that's changing:
For the past two years, Mike O'Neal has served as speaker of the Kansas House of Representatives. Now he'll actually be in charge.
O'Neal is a conservative Republican. A coalition of Democrats and GOP moderates teamed up to cut him out of the budget-writing process for two years running. Earlier this year, they moved through the House a temporary 1 cent sales tax increase - something that conservatives like O'Neal reviled.
Today, that coalition is dead. Republicans netted 16 seats in the Kansas House on Nov. 2, expanding their advantage over Democrats to a margin of 92-to-33. Even with roughly the same number of moderate Republicans returning, there won't be enough of them to come close to cobbling out a majority with Democrats. For many years, moderate and conservative Republicans have fought with each other in Kansas. In the 2010 election, the conservatives won a clear victory. "We will have a working majority," O'Neal declares.
In the Kansas House, the shift towards conservatives is subtle. It doesn't involve a change in leadership. Elsewhere, it's more dramatic. Conservative insurgents are challenging establishment Republicans for Senate presidencies and House speakerships in state after state, trying to move legislative power to the right. During Republican primaries this year, GOP legislators perceived as moderate were challenged from the right by candidates who claimed Tea Party loyalties. Now that the election is over, those battles have moved t
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