‘I get my ass kicked every 20 minutes’: life in the super-minority of a state legislature
While lawmakers said most day-to-day dealings between the parties tend to be peaceful, sometimes tensions between the vast majority and the super-minority can turn into high-profile stunts fueled by pent-up hostility. In Oregon, Republicans staged a week-long strike to boycott businesses in the state Senate. In Tennessee, the GOP leadership ousted two Democrats for bending House rules by protesting gun violence. "I'll tell you bluntly: It really sucks," said state Sen. Mike Caputo, one of three Democrats in the West Virginia Senate. Caputo has served in the West Virginia legislature for nearly thirty years and witnessed his party's shift from…
