Kreider, Rep. Tim Harlan, D-Columbia, and Rep. Denny Merideth, D-Caruthersville, all attempted to secure the party nomination for Speaker Thursday. Kreider received 63 votes while Harlan garnered 13 votes in the caucus.
Rep. Tim Harlan, D-Columbia, Rep. Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, and Rep. Danny Merideth, a former Independant turned Democrat this year from Caruthersville, are all seeking the party nomination for the position.
The HMO bill, though threatened, is not dead, said House sponsor Tim Harlan, D-Columbia. Harlan said the Senate sponsor Joe Maxwell, D-Mexico, only withdrew the measure to re-negotiate the controversial language.
The committee chairman, Rep. Tim Harlan, conceded his committee's vote killed the idea for this year and left little chance for change before more than half of Missouri's legislature will be forced out of office by term limits in two years.
The bill's sponsor, Tim Harlan says he won't support a bill with such an amendment. He says he'll spend the next few days trying to change votes. If he can't he'll kill the bill.
With Leake out of the running, Columbia Representative Tim Harlan and current Speaker Pro Tem Jim Krieder are the only two announced candidates for the job.
With Leake's departure, it now becomes a two-person race, so far, for the best seat in the House. Rep. Tim Harlan, D-Columbia, and Rep. Jim Kreider, D-Nixa, are the only two legislators who have publically declared their intent to run for the Speaker's seat.
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