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John Hambrick: From
the Doghouse to the Penthouse
By Chuck Muth
December 4, 2014
In
2013 he was sentenced to the “Bad Boy” room in the Nevada Legislature. Next year he’ll have the best office in the
building, including his own private washroom and a dozen political handmaidens
at his beck and call.
Thus
is the Horatio Alger-like fortune of conservative Republican Assemblyman John
Hambrick, the new Speaker-designate for the Nevada State Assembly, whose story reminds
us of the old saying, “No guts, no glory.”
In
2012, Hambrick – a retired Secret Service agent – went “all in” with support
for Republican candidate Wes Duncan in Duncan’s uphill race against then-Democrat
Assembly Majority Leader Marcus Conklin, who was fast-tracked to be the next
Speaker of the Assembly if he won his re-election bid.
He
didn’t. And there was hell to pay.
In
a petty fit of political retribution, Hambrick was exiled by the Democrats to
the “Bad Boy” room - the smallest office in the Legislature.
The
“Bad Boy” room was previously occupied by former conservative Republican Assemblyman
Ty Cobb, who was sentenced there for refusing to vote for liberal Democrat
Barbara Buckley for Speaker, and by former conservative Republican Assemblyman
Ed Goedhart for daring to defy then-Democrat Speaker John Oceguera.
Actually,
conservatives have worn the “Bad Boy” room as a badge of honor.
Fast-forward
to 2014.
Despite
assistance from fellow Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval that ranged from minimal
to non-existent, Republicans won the majority in the State Assembly for the
first time since 1985.
More
importantly, conservatives won the majority of the majority in the
process. Something that hasn’t happened
since, well, ever. And the first thing
the new conservative majority did was vote moderate Assemblyman Pat Hickey off
the island.
Hickey
served as Minority Leader of the GOP caucus in 2013 and often treated his
conservative colleagues like the proverbial red-headed stepchild.
He
also gave aid and comfort to a number of moderate challengers against conservative
candidates in this year’s GOP primaries.
Conservative candidates who ended up winning. Conservative candidates with long memories.
As
such, Hickey was ousted and replaced by conservative Assemblyman Ira Hansen as
the next would-be Speaker. However, one
of Hickey’s moderate minions, Assemblyman Paul Anderson, defeated Hambrick in a
subsequent caucus vote for the Majority Leader position.
Alas,
a classic “borking” of Hansen by liberals and the media – but I repeat myself –
over opinion columns Hansen had written as long as 20 years ago resulted in
Hansen stepping down just 10 days later. And that resulted in a Hambrick vs.
Anderson caucus rematch – only this time for the Speaker position.
With
support from conservatives, led by Assemblywoman Michele Fiore and Assemblyman
Jim Wheeler, Hambrick came out on top.
And thus, in two short years, will move from the doghouse to the
penthouse when the 2015 Nevada Legislature convenes next year.
Unless...
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