Everybody seems to be coalescing around the third-termer from Eunice, and that’s just fine. A press release from the other major House Speaker candidates in the Louisiana legislature this morning…

House Speaker Candidates Consolidate Behind DeVillier

Baton Rouge, LA — Today, Representatives Jack McFarland (R-Winnfield), Julie Emerson (R-Carencro), Tony Bacala (R-Prairieville), Brett Geymann (R-Moss Bluff), and Daryl Deshotel (R-Hessmer) are announcing the suspension of their campaigns for Speaker of the House and urging their supporters to unite behind Representative Phillip DeVillier (R-Eunice), as it is clear he has already garnered significant support from House members.

“It’s clear that Phillip is leading the vote count right now, and we all enjoy working with him. This race has been friendly since the beginning, and I applaud all of the candidates on running such a clean race on merits. I look forward to working with Rep. DeVillier in making his leadership successful,” said McFarland.

“Phillip has worked very hard for months to share his vision with members, and it’s obvious to us that his message and leadership style is something to which members are drawn. Phillip has been my close friend and seat mate for 8 years, and he is as genuine as they come. I am excited about working with Phillip and our next administration to make a better Louisiana!” said Emerson.

Bacala said, “Having served with Phillip DeVillier for the last 8 years, I am confident that he is the right person to be Speaker of the House of Representatives. Unifying behind a single candidate for Speaker is the next step in ensuring a smooth transition into the next term, and creating a unified team to move a conservative agenda forward.”

“I’ve been through more Speaker races than anyone in this process, I think. I am pleased to say this one has truly been a merit-based process with no underhanded tactics. I have enjoyed traveling the state and meeting with members and sharing my goals. At this time, I feel we owe it to the House to start narrowing the field, and I think Rep. DeVillier is the one who can bring us all together. I look forward to working with him to achieve our common goals for the House,” said Geymann.

Deshotel added, “These last few months of traveling the state and speaking with current members and getting to know new legislators has been a tremendous honor and experience. I appreciate those who put their faith in me, and I am urging everyone to get behind Phillip so we can move forward as one.”

DeVillier responded, “Jack, Tony, Julie, Brett, and Daryl are all tremendous people and legislators. I am honored to have their support, and I appreciate how they have all handled this process. I am ready to earn the support of all House members and for us to work together in the next term.”

The House of Representatives selects a Speaker of the House during the organizational session which begins January 8, 2024 immediately following the swearing-in ceremony. The House Republicans have agreed to meet and select a Republican nominee in early December.

It was known that DeVillier is reasonably close with Jeff Landry. Did the governor-elect cherry-pick DeVillier as his Speaker?

Here was Landry’s statement on the news that DeVillier had ascended to the role of Speaker by acclimation, at least of sorts…

Having spoken to Members of the House Republican Delegation, and having seen the public statements this morning, It has become evident Representative Phillip DeVillier has secured enough votes to serve as Louisiana’s Speaker of the House. I recognize the hard work Representative DeVillier put in to gather this level of support among Members of the House Republican Delegation. I am pleased to see leaders from across the Delegation stand behind him as the next Louisiana Speaker of the House. There are significant challenges facing our state. Having strong leaders in all aspects of government will allow us to make the changes necessary to move Louisiana forward. I look forward to working with Representative DeVillier along with the Senate leadership, the team we are assembling in my in Administration, and our state’s Constitutional officers including Nancy Landry, Liz Murrill, and John Fleming who I am confident the voters will elect this week in the runoff.

DeVillier isn’t quite a Freedom Caucus conservative, but he’s pretty Freedom Caucus adjacent. You’re going to get a legitimate conservative House Speaker with him, and that’s going to mean some pretty aggressive reform measures.

What we’re waiting for, though it’s far too early to expect this stuff to come down right away, is the leadership structure the new Speaker puts together.

For example, we could see the Holy Grail of fiscal conservatism coming to pass, which is Geymann getting the chairmanship of the House Appropriations Committee.

With Taylor Barras and Patrick Goldsmith as the #1 and #2 men in Landry’s Division of Administration, Geymann in charge of House Appropriations and Cameron Henry as Senate president, you will then have fiscal conservatives in charge of every step in the state’s budget process, and Louisiana’s fiscal house can finally be put in some semblance of order after decades and decades of fraud, waste, abuse and corruption siphoning away the lifeblood of our private sector economy.

We’re talking about billions of dollars every year being poured down a hole which can be reclaimed simply because people in charge are now interested in reclaiming them. And with that tighter ship comes the prospect of easily affording the kind of tax relief which puts Louisiana on a competitive footing with Texas, Florida and Tennessee.

It’s likely this would have happened with any of the announced Speaker candidates. It’s perhaps likelier now that it’s DeVillier.

You might also see, when the committee assignments come out, that Republicans no longer play footsie with Democrats by doling out chairmanships of committees as personal favors as has been done for years. The voters of Louisiana have already made it clear they don’t want Democrats to have any significant role in governing Louisiana; as of now it looks like only 32 of 105 House seats will be held by Dems, and only 11 of 39 Senate seats. Those are minor-party numbers, so there is zero reason in principle to give Democrats chairmanships or vice-chairmanships. And with DeVillier getting 53 pledged votes before even coming to the official Speaker election thanks to the assent of the GOP delegation, there is zero reason in practice for it to happen.

You’re going to hear a whole lot of whining from the usual legacy-media suspects about how “they’re bringing Washington politics to Louisiana” based on a lack of “bipartisanship.” Except the voters chose a lack of bipartisanship. The voters want Louisiana to be governed by conservatives. The voters want real, substantive, aggressive change. And now there is the beginning of a team in place to do just that.

We’re touting the Landry transition as a revolution in the making. The election of a Republican House Speaker solely with the votes of members of the House Republican delegation and no input from Democrats is a key piece of that revolution.

More pieces are coming.