House black caucus upset with their fellow Democrats

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- House Democrats recovering from their first defeat in 48 years are facing strife within their ranks after black lawmakers were shut out of top Democratic leadership posts.

The Missouri Legislative Black Caucus, which consists of 13 black senators and representatives from Kansas City and the St. Louis area, issued a statement Friday critical of the way Democrats treated black members during leadership meetings Thursday.

The caucus was angered by the rejection of Rep. Betty Thompson's nomination for assistant minority leader. Thompson, of University City, is currently the party whip, a position that rallies party support for bills.

When Thompson's nomination failed, Rep.-elect Robin Wright Jones of St. Louis declined to accept her nomination as caucus secretary.

Black lawmakers walked out of the meeting, where Democrats nominated Rep. Mark Abel of Festus as minority floor leader and Rep. Bill Ransdall of Waynesville as assistant minority leader. Both are white.

"It was clear then and is evident now that the Democratic Party has shown an unwillingness to hold true to its claim as a party of and for all people," the caucus said in a prepared statement. "The Missouri Democratic Party has consistently failed to deliver to us and subsequently our constituents."

Wounds opened up

Rep. Craig Bland, the black caucus chairman, said Friday that there were a lot of "wounds" opened during Thursday's meeting.

"This thing is about inclusiveness. We're not trying to beat up the Democratic Party," said Bland, D-Kansas City. "But we were disrespected. There are some things you have to do when you are disrespected."

Bland said he hoped that members of the black caucus would be able to meet with other members of the House to try and ease the divisions from Thursday's meeting.

The dissent among black lawmakers comes as Democrats try to regroup after losing their House majority to Republicans for the first time since 1954.

Republicans went from a 87-76 minority to a 90-73 majority and have already announced plans to change some of the day-to-day operations in the House. Of the 73 Democrats in the House, almost 18 percent are black. There is one black Republican, Rep.-elect Sherman Parker of St. Charles.

Abel said Friday that he was disappointed by the tone of the black caucus statement, because Democrats need to be united in dealing with Republicans when the Legislature returns to work in January.

"I'm sorry that they felt that way," Abel said. "It's not a good way for us to start. Right now more than ever, this party needs to be united."

Abel said Democrats did not intentionally ignore black members, many of whom did not appear with colleagues during a news conference held Thursday by Gov. Bob Holden.

"Sometimes, in caucus, things happen and people get angry," Abel said. "I think that losing the majority meant people weren't in the best of moods."

Rep. Russ Carnahan, who was selected Democratic Caucus chairman, said he had talked with Bland about the situation and remained hopeful that things could be patched up before January.

"I think there were some hurt feelings and were some people in our caucus that felt like the results weren't as good as the could have been," said Carnahan of St. Louis. "Craig and I are both committed to working together down the road."

In the Senate, Democrats selected Sen. Maida Coleman of St. Louis as the assistant minority floor leader. Coleman is black.

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On the Net

Missouri Legislature:

www.moga.state.mo.us