THE NEW SPEAKER

After a week's wrangling, caucusing and deal-making, the Missouri House of Representatives finally elected a new speaker to replace Bob Griffin, at 15 years the longest serving speaker in the state's history. The new House leader is 38-year-old Rep. Steve Gaw, a Moberly Democrat and, like every speaker since 1940, a lawyer.

Rep. Gaw is in only his second two-year term, having been first elected in 1992. By his own account, Gaw was late to emerge as a serious contender for the top post. Until 36 hours before his selection as the compromise candidate of a badly splintered Democratic caucus, Gaw watched as other Democrats contended for the post. The entire process of brokering a new speaker was stage-managed, behind the scenes and occasionally in front of them, by the wily Griffin, with even more well-concealed assistance from Gov. Mel Carnahan and his staff.

The unassuming Gaw's selection has triggered fawning articles -- "GAW, SHUCKS" screamed the headline on a St. Louis Post-Dispatch profile -- in the state's major newspapers. What little is known of him yields a profile of a studious legislator, a friendly and approachable person and even a "policy wonk," according to some fellow lawmakers.

Gaw emerged after House Democrats couldn't unite to elect Rep. Sam Leake, a Ralls County farmer who had won the caucus nod in a November meeting. Leake couldn't nail down enough support from Black Caucus members and a handful of other dissident Democrats. The Black Caucus, in particular, is brazenly demanding hiring quotas throughout state government in a bid some members are openly calling their share of "the spoils of the majority party."

That Democratic caucus, which has controlled the Missouri House more than 40 years, is today a badly splintered bunch. Look for a spate of retirements of senior members to follow Bob Griffin's, which is imminent. Whether Steve Gaw succeeds or whether he rues the day he was elected speaker will depend in large part on how deft his leadership proves within his fractious majority caucus. It is a tall order.