WARD'S RESIGNATION MEANS MORE HOUSE CHANGES

The announced resignation of House Majority Leader Bob Ward will mean new faces in the two most powerful leadership positions in that chamber.

Ward, D-Bonne Terre, said Wednesday he is stepping down due to health problems resulting from a stroke he suffered last year. His resignation is effective today.

Rep. Larry Thomason, D-Kennett, said the announcement came as no surprise.

"Bob and I talked back toward the end of the last session and he expressed then that he hoped to get the strength back to be a full-time member," Thomason said. While Ward has made drastic improvements, he is yet to be in top form, Thomason said.

Ward plans to remain in the General Assembly and may seek re-election to the seat he has held since 1982. However, the rigors of serving as majority leader were too much.

"I have to think of Number One, really," Ward said. "I came out of the hospital in a wheelchair and now I'm walking and I don't want to lose that."

The majority leader controls the House schedule and has some say over what legislation makes it to the floor, though that power is not as great as it was in the past.

"The floor leader's job is demanding," Thomason said. "You have to be on the floor the whole time."

The power of the majority leader is second in the House only to the speaker. Rep. Bob Griffin, speaker for the past 15 years, will resign at the start of the legislative session on Jan. 3. Rep. Sam Leake, D-Laddonia, is his party's selection to succeed Griffin. Leake will likely face a challenge from House Minority Leader Mark Richardson, R-Poplar Bluff.

Rep. Marilyn Taylor Williams, D-Dudley, doesn't expect any radical changes despite the new faces in House leadership.

"I don't think of it as a shakeup, but there will be a different style as to how business in the House is managed," Williams said.

Thomason expects the House Democratic Caucus will choose a new majority leader before the legislature reconvenes. However, he doesn't plan to be among those seeking the job.

"I would never shut that door but it is not something I anticipate," he said.

Currently there are five confirmed candidates: Assistant Majority Leader Wayne Crump of Potosi, Rep. Gracia Backer of New Bloomfield, Rep. Gary Witt of Platte City, Rep. Patrick Dougherty of St. Louis and Rep. Ken Jacob of Columbia.

Williams said both Crump, who took over for Ward during his extensive absences last session, and Backer, a former assistant majority leader, each have already proven their ability to do the job but said the others are also capable.

"It is wide-open," Williams said. "We have a lot of good people potentially for that spot, including a lot of names that have not been mentioned."

Thomason agrees that more candidates will appear, and said he doesn't see an early odds-on favorite. He does hope a replacement is chosen soon to give him or her time to prepare for the session. He also predicts the transition in leadership will be a smooth one.

"There will certainly be some effect but I think it will be minimal. All of the people running have been in the House for at least six years and all know what to do," Thomason said.

Although Rep. Sheila Lumpe, D-University City, barely lost the speaker's nomination to Leake, Williams doesn't think Lumpe would be willing to give up her powerful position as appropriations chairman be become majority leader.

Both Thomason and Williams said Ward had been considering stepping down as majority leader long before a recent story in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch accused Ward and two aides of charging taxpayers for questionable expenses while attending a conference in San Diego.

"That stuff does not bother Bob," Williams said. "It was definitely his health."

Ward reimbursed taxpayers $850 for the expenses on Wednesday.

(Some information for this story was gathered by The Associated Press.)