Voters empowered two new freshman Republican congressmen in 1st District U.S. Rep.-Elect Alan Nunnelee and 4th District U.S. Rep.-Elect Steven Palazzo.
With the House shifting from Democratic control to Republican leadership, Mississippi will lose 2nd District U.S. Rep. Bennie Thompson’s House Homeland Security Committee chairmanship. Thompson will, however, remain the ranking minority member of the committee he now chairs.
With their defeats, the state will lose 4th District U.S. Rep. Gene Taylor’s House Armed Services Committee Seapower and Expeditionary Forces Subcommittee chairmanship and 1st District U.S. Rep. Travis Childers’ seats on the House Financial Services and Agriculture committees. It’s as yet unknown what committee assignments Nunnelee and Palazzo will draw, but it’s likely U.S. Rep. John Boehner, the presumptive new House Speaker, will give each of the new GOP congressmen at least one plum committee assignment.
The big losses for the state are Thompson’s chairmanship and Taylor’s subcommittee chairmanship.
Third District U.S. Rep. Gregg Harper, R-Pearl, will enter his second term fresh from getting good committee assignments as a freshman and as a rising star on Boehner’s leadership team. That should translate into Harper’s status growing under Boehner’s tenure as speaker.
Clarion Ledger
11/4/10
Magnolia Tribune
