As Republicans in the nation’s capital were grinding through 15 ballots to elect California Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaker of the House, some states have been navigating their own razor-thin legislative majorities and intraparty divides in a different way – by reaching across the aisle.
This month, 16 Pennsylvania House Republicans, including all seven GOP leaders, unexpectedly joined with Democrats to elect Democrat Mark Rozzi as speaker. Ohio also saw a surprise candidate elected speaker of the House – a Republican who won by drawing votes from both parties. And Republicans and Democrats in Alaska’s narrowly divided state Senate have agreed to form a bipartisan coalition.
Why We Wrote This
As parties are grappling with more extreme wings, some state legislatures have responded by forming centrist coalitions across the aisle. To work, however, the model requires trust.
It’s an alternative model for parties grappling with extreme wings: Instead of trying to hold an unmanageable caucus together, create a bipartisan governing majority. Whether the approach is workable in an age of hyperpolarization, however, remains to be seen. Already, the path in Pennsylvania has been anything but smooth.
In battleground states, where the stakes are so high, it’s especially difficult for the two sides to trust each other, says Dan Mallinson, a public policy professor at Penn State Harrisburg. “It’s not that it’s impossible,” he says. “But it’s increasingly hard.”
As state Rep. Jim Gregory walks into the Pennsylvania Capitol’s cafeteria, a table of Democrats all stops talking and turns their heads. One stands up to give him a pat on the back as he passes by.
Mr. Gregory, a Republican, ruefully remarks that this reception was likely warmer than what he’d be getting from Republicans in his home district. He’s not wrong.
A few weeks ago, Mr. Gregory did something that made him unpopular with members of his own party: He nominated a Democrat to be speaker of the Pennsylvania House.
Why We Wrote This
As parties are grappling with more extreme wings, some state legislatures have responded by forming centrist coalitions across the aisle. To work, however, the model requires trust.
As Mr. Gregory saw it, his action was a reasonable response to a unique and difficult set of circumstances. In November, Democrats won a majority in the Pennsylvania House for the first time in more than a decade, by a single seat. But three Democratic-held seats then immediately became vacant (one candidate died right before Election Day and two others resigned after winning higher office) – leading to heated debates about which party really held the majority, and who should become speaker.
Searching for a solution, Mr. Gregory, who represents a district in central Pennsylvania surrounding Altoona, started floating the possibility of nominating Berks County Democrat Mark Rozzi.
The two men had been friends for years, working together on legislation to help victims of childhood sexual assault. What’s more, Mr. Gregory says Mr. Rozzi told him he would change his party registration to independent if elected speaker. With the assumption that Democrats would win the upcoming special elections for the three vacant seats, that would give the Pennsylvania House a 101-101-1 divide – a better long-term outcome for Republicans, he notes, than if they’d temporarily seized the majority.
“We would actually have to run the calendar together,” says Mr. Gregory, referring to the House’s daily agendas. “We’d only be able to put forth bills that we could have, you know, real bipartisan agreement on.”
As Republicans in the nation’s capital were grinding through 15 ballots to elect California Rep. Kevin McCarthy speaker of the House, some states have been navigating their own razor-thin legislative majorities and intraparty divides in a different way – by reaching across the aisle. This month, 16 Pennsylvania House Republicans, including all seven GOP leaders, unexpectedly joined with Democrats to elect Mr. Rozzi as speaker. In another show of bipartisanship, the state’s Democratic governor, Josh Shapiro, tapped Republican Al Schmidt, a former Philadelphia commissioner who had refuted former President Donald Trump’s claims of voter fraud, for secretary of state.
Ohio also saw a surprise candidate elected speaker of the House – a Republican who won by drawing votes from both parties. And Republicans and Democrats in Alaska’s narrowly divided state Senate have agreed to form a bipartisan coalition.
It’s an alternative model for parties grappling with extreme wings: Instead of trying to hold an unmanageable caucus together, create a centrist, bipartisan governing majority. Whether this approach is workable in an age of hyperpolarization, however, remains to be seen.
“That day [Mr. Rozzi was elected] there was this stark contrast between what was happening in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Alaska with these stories coming out about more centrist or bipartisan candidates emerging, and what was happening in Washington,” says Dan Mallinson, a public policy professor at Penn State Harrisburg. “But in Pennsylvania at least, it was a pretty quick retrenchment back into very polarized partisan politics.”
While bipartisan coalitions may start out with good intentions, they can easily break down because it’s difficult for the two sides to trust each other, he says – especially in a battleground state where the stakes are so high.
“It’s not that it’s impossible,” adds Mr. Mallinson. “But it’s increasingly hard.”
A bumpy start
Already, the path in Pennsylvania has been anything but smooth. Many Republicans view Mr. Rozzi’s speakership as a betrayal, and Mr. Gregory – who nominated Mr. Rozzi – has now called on him to resign. He and other Republicans say the new speaker has reneged on his pledge to register as an independent. (Mr. Rozzi, who publicly promised not to caucus with either party but was less clear about his registration, did not respond to repeated requests for comment.)
Mr. Rozzi has had to delay the start of a special session after the House couldn’t agree on a rules package. The body remains essentially frozen over procedural questions, with committees still unassigned and no legislative days scheduled. On Tuesday, Mr. Rozzi announced a new working group tasked with brainstorming ways to end the stalemate.
“If they can’t even convene the [Pennsylvania] House, I’m not holding my breath that they can do something substantive,” says Harrisburg-based GOP consultant Chris Nicholas.
A similar situation has been unfolding in neighboring Ohio. Although Republicans have a sizable majority in that state’s lower chamber and could easily have chosen a speaker without any Democratic votes, the caucus couldn’t agree on a candidate. In early January, 22 Republicans joined with 32 Democrats to elect Republican Jason Stephens over Derek Merrin, a conservative Republican who had won an informal vote among the GOP caucus in November.
Minority Leader Allison Russo, a Democrat who represents an area surrounding Columbus, says she was glad for an opportunity to help shape the outcome.
“Speaker Stephens is definitely conservative … but there were some areas of common ground,” says Ms. Russo, who hopes the two parties can work together on issues like school funding and fair redistricting maps. “We have an opportunity to build a coalition to make that happen. Do I think it will be perfect? No. Do I think it’s better than the alternative? Yes.”
Yet as in Pennsylvania, the arrangement is fast showing signs of strain.
After the speaker vote, the Ohio Republican Party voted to censure Representative Stephens and the Republican lawmakers who backed him, saying the speakership vote “dishonors” the party. And Representative Merrin, who was in line for the speakership before Democrats helped elect Mr. Stephens, has declared himself the “leader of the House Republicans.” He reportedly plans to form a “third caucus” and has vowed to push for new House rules that would lessen the power of the speakership.
Ms. Russo isn’t under any illusions that her statehouse will become a model of bipartisanship. Still, she argues that finding ways to work across the aisle will ultimately be necessary, given the ideological divisions in the GOP.
“I anticipate that there will be regret at some point. This is politics at the end of the day,” Ms. Russo says. “That said, I do believe given the dynamics in their caucus, to move some things forward there will need to be coalitions with Democrats.”
Blowback from the right
At the Prime Sirloin Buffet in Duncansville, Pennsylvania, a group of conservative Republicans is saying the Pledge of Allegiance to a flag that has been suction-cupped to a table. It’s the bimonthly meeting of Push Back PA, which was founded in the wake of the 2020 election by Dan Ferrell, who worked for the Trump campaign. Dedicated to electing “true conservatives,” the group’s website includes a rundown of “Rino News” attacking GOP politicians who are seen as traitors to the cause.
Mr. Gregory had originally planned to attend the meeting, to try to explain his nomination of Mr. Rozzi, but wound up stuck in Harrisburg, two hours away. That didn’t prevent him from being a primary topic of conversation.
“I was a little disturbed that Mr. Gregory nominated a Democrat. The Republicans were in control, so they really could have done a lot of things that made a difference,” says the Rev. Roy Steward, who gave an opening prayer at the start of the meeting.
“I certainly don’t think Mr. Gregory’s vote represents the people of this district,” agrees Scott Barger, who is running for commissioner of Blair County, where Mr. Trump won more than 70% of the vote in both 2016 and 2020.
Mr. Gregory says he expected this kind of response from his far-right constituents, and he’s working hard to win back their trust. On his way to Harrisburg, he spent the two-hour commute calling up various people in his district to talk about the speaker situation and how to find a way forward.
Yet despite the blowback and his own frustrations with Mr. Rozzi, he says he remains hopeful that the coming months may still bring positive change. The Pennsylvania legislature has an opportunity to be “a whole lot better” than before, he says – in part because lawmakers witnessed the positive attention that comes with efforts at bipartisanship.
“What we did, by doing something good, makes people feel better,” says Mr. Gregory. His high school basketball coach, among others, reached out to thank him for restoring his faith in government. “It’s a good lesson.”