Democrats elect new House speaker

INDIANAPOLIS -- Although questions remained Thursday about which party would ultimately control the Indiana House, Democrats who claimed victory in the election Thursday nominated Rep. B. Patrick Bauer of South Bend to be the chamber's next speaker.\nHouse Democrats chose Bauer, the fiery chairman of the tax- and budget-writing Ways and Means Committee, during a private meeting held in the same room that has been his domain for all but two of the past 13 years.\nHouse Democrats have been fighting internally over the position since former Speaker John Gregg, D-Sandborn, stunned colleagues in February by announcing that he was not seeking re-election to the legislature.\nBauer had portrayed himself as the leading contender for the powerful post for weeks. The speaker runs the chamber, appoints committee chairmen and wields tremendous influence over the agenda and the fate of legislation.\nSpeaker Pro Tem Chet Dobis of Merrillville, Rep. Ed Mahern of Indianapolis and Rep. Paul Robertson of Depauw also went into Thursday's secret ballot contest seeking the top spot.\nRules Committee Chairman Win Moses of Fort Wayne spent months trying to shore up backing for speaker, but dropped his bid after results in Tuesday's election showed him winning re-election by only 64 votes.\nPreliminary tallies from Tuesday's election gave Democrats a 51-49 majority in the House and power to select the next speaker. But the margin of victory was only 37 votes in an Indianapolis-area race, and that tally had yet to be certified by local election officials Thursday.\nRepublicans hung onto hope that certified results would show their candidate the winner and give them a 50th seat and control of the chamber through provisions of a tie-breaking law enacted in 1995.\nRegardless, it seemed likely that recounts would be requested in the Moses race and the Indianapolis-area race. That process could take days, perhaps weeks\nRepublicans met privately Thursday and renominated House Minority Leader Brian Bosma, R-Indianapolis, as their leader. That means he likely would become speaker if the results of Tuesday's election are overturned in the GOP's favor.