shunned

Why Didn’t Any Republicans Vote For John Pérez to Become CA Assembly Speaker? Because He’s ‘One Of Them’

Sure, John Pérez might have received a 64-second standing ovation from his colleagues in the California State Assembly after voting him in as speaker (and, thus, he became the first gay one), but absolutely zero Republican lawmakers voted to confirm him — something of an anomaly is the Assembly, notes Willie Brown, who held Pérez’s job for 15 years. Brown explains, “conservative bloggers raised such a ruckus over voting for ‘one of them’ that Republicans declined to participate in the ceremonial, bipartisan ‘best of luck’ voice vote. Whether ‘one of them’ meant voting for a Democrat or someone gay was never stated, but from the looks of things, the message was received.” Even Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, had the decency to give him a jock nod.

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